Bad Blood
by RoniMikaelson
Summary: Malia Gilbert, Jess Forbes and Ava Salvatore are three best friends living in the supernatural hotspot that is Mystic Falls. With family histories going back centuries, new enemies and ancient dangers, the three girls find themselves in the middle of the supernatural world with no way out… On Hiatus
1. The Beginning

**A/N I know that the first chapter is kind of boring, but I promise it'll get better with each update. This just sets up the rest of the story and introduces the characters, basically.**

 **I hope you guys enjoy the story. Reviews are appreciated! Thanks in advance for any reading and reviewing you do.**

* * *

Malia Gilbert was halfway convinced that she was going insane. Maybe she was already completely off her rocker and she just hadn't caught on yet. It was the first day of school, junior year, the time to get a fresh start and move on with her life. Her twin sister, Elena, was handling the entire situation calmly. But Elena hadn't seen what Malia had. Elena had been unconscious. Malia hadn't.

"You must've been hallucinating." That's what everyone told her. Eventually, she learned to just smile and nod in agreement. Of course no one believed her that she had seen a man swim over to their car, rip off the door and carry her and her sister to safety too easily to be natural. She would've believed them that she was just hallucinating in the heat of the moment… if she had remembered what had happened right away and believed it to be true at once. But no, she had gotten the memories back a month after the incident happened. Slowly at first, but now she remembered everything about that night in stunning detail.

"Malia!" She jumped and whirled around, nearly falling off the barstool. With only the three teens and Aunt Jenna, formal sit-down meals were out of the question. It was more of a free-for-all whenever you're hungry, during breakfast especially. So Malia had a plate of now cold yet still over-cooked bacon in front of her, holding onto a cup of room-temperature coffee. Elena had walked up behind her without her even realizing it.

"I called your name, like, five times." Elena told her, giving her the same worried look that Malia had received thousands of times over the summer. Elena was babied for what had happened, sure, and Jeremy was watched by everyone lest he should react more negatively than he already had but Malia was a worry that everyone had. _Why did she react so differently than Elena? Why couldn't she react more like Elena in the first place? Is she okay? Should she go to school? What if she has another panic attack?_ She had overheard those questions all summer and she was tired of them.

"Well, I was thinking about stuff, obviously." Malia mumbled. Jeremy walked up behind her.

"It's a new experience for her, let her enjoy it." He gave her blonde braid a tug and ducked out of the way as she tried to hit him. Elena and Malia might have been the twins, but Malia had always found it easier to get along with Jeremy. Well, maybe not 'get along' but he was more fun to hang around at least.

"Toast… I can make toast…" Jenna walked into the kitchen, looking flustered.

"It's all about the coffee, Aunt Jenna." Elena assured her.

"Is there coffee?" Jeremy asked hopefully. Elena went to pour herself a cup and Malia handed her untouched one over to Jeremy, ignoring the suspicious glance she got in return. Normally, she didn't share food or drinks with anyone, including her own flesh and blood. But it was either that or Jeremy would steal Elena's cup and Malia was far from in the mood to see them start fighting again.

"It's your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared… Lunch money?" Jenna asked nervously. Jeremy took the five dollar bill she offered without a word.

"I'm good." Elena told her.

"Anything else? Number two pencil? What am I missing?" Jenna asked.

"Don't you have a big presentation today?"

"I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at… now. Crap."

"Go, we'll be fine." Elena encouraged, turning to the counter to put sugar in her coffee. Jenna went over to Malia.

"If you need to come home from school today, just call me at any time, alright?" She whispered.

"I think I can handle one day of school, thanks." Malia told her, sounding harsher than she meant to. She grimaced at her own tone of voice. Jenna gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"Okay. I'm leaving." She rushed out of the house, barely pausing to shut the front door behind her.

"Seriously, Malia-." Elena started.

"Serious is not something I do. But nice chat." Malia grabbed her shoulder bag from the stool beside her.

"Have you had any… you know… recently?" Elena danced around the subject delicately. Too delicately. Malia gritted her teeth together.

"Panic attacks? They aren't curse words, Elena; you can say them out loud. And no, I haven't."

"I just wanted to be sure."

"I'm fine. Can everyone stop babying me for five minutes?" Malia snapped. She saw Elena struggle to conceal her anger and knew that there was a lecture coming. Elena had taken the position of 'head of the household' since their parents had died. She watched out for Jeremy and Malia to the point where they were annoyed by it. And when things didn't go the way Elena wanted them to do, they were sat down like naughty little children and lectured about their behavior. It didn't work.

"Everyone is just worried about you, Malia, and we want to help."

"You can help by not treating me like I'm crazy." Malia turned and hurried out of the house without another word.

* * *

Ava Salvatore bounded up the stairs to her several-times-great-uncle's room. Stefan was sitting at his desk, writing in his journal, with his back to her. She slowed her pace and walked up behind him.

"Yes?" He asked without looking up. She groaned.

"You can stop trying to sneak up on me." He told her, putting his journal aside.

"I could, but I won't. We should get to school." Ava added the last part as an afterthought. She was Zach's niece, the daughter of his deceased brother. She had grown up in the Salvatore Boarding House with full disclosure of the supernatural world. Still, Stefan was surprised how easily Ava had adjusted to having him living with her and Zach.

"Don't jump up and get too excited or anything." Ava said sarcastically when Stefan didn't move. He smiled slightly.

"Sorry." He got up and grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair.

"I don't get why you're choosing to go to high school. If I had I choice, I would be in bed right about now." She said as they walked down the stairs. The old Boarding House was practically a mansion and Ava had always felt it was too big for her just her and Zach. Stefan helped, somewhat, but it was still a big house no where near any other houses in town.

"You know why I'm choosing to go to high school."

"You have to know her, I got it. You know, I can help with that." Stefan opened the front door for her and she smiled, slipping outside.

"Oooh, such a gentleman! Elena's going to fall for you, Stef, and she'll fall hard!" Ava told him confidently. She hurried down the steps and over to the beat up, faded-gold colored Pontiac Grand Am that Zach was loaning her. It wasn't hers and heaven help her if she didn't keep the tank full, but she could use it as much as she wanted. Ava turned as Stefan caught up to her, pausing to pull her black hair into a ponytail.

"I'll be subtle about it. Malia's my bestie, so I'll just walk us over, we'll sit with them, I'll introduce you to Elena… the rest will be history. Here, you drive." Ava slapped the keys into Stefan's hand and went to climb into the passenger side.

"I don't need you help, Ava." Stefan told her. She rolled her eyes, which were amazingly enough the same shade as Stefan's, and opened the car door.

"Oh, but you do, Stef. I'm your partner in love!" She grimaced at her own words and shook her head.

"That came out wrong."

* * *

Once in the school parking lot, Ava was out of the car before Stefan could even put on the brakes. He turned off the car and got out, not surprised to see her waiting on his side for him.

"If any asks, you're my cousin, right?"

"Correct." He agreed.

"And if anyone asks for details about why you're staying with me and Zach, I'm going make them up on the spot so just roll with whatever people ask you about." She continued. Stefan nodded his agreement.

"And after school, there's this place called The Grill where everyone who's anyone hangs out. We can show up there, but we can't go in too early or we'll look desperate. There's also this party at the falls that everyone goes to so you have to go to that. It's a big deal, bonfires, underage drinking in the middle of a dark forest. You know the normal teen stuff." As Ava paused to take a breath, Stefan just looked at her. She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Yes, I've taken my Adderall today!" She told him without him having to ask. They walked into the crowded school and Stefan headed for the front office. Ava started her search for her friends.

"Ava, come over here!" She turned towards the voice, already knowing that it was none other than Jessica Forbes. Jess was, as usual, hanging right by Caroline, who was gossiping with the other cheerleaders. Ava hurried over to join her. Between the two Forbes sisters, Jess was the constant one. Caroline was impulsive, always talking a mile a minute and never pausing to think about anything. Jess was thoughtful, considerate and couldn't be impulsive if she tried. The most dangerous thing Jess had ever done was cut a foot off her hair, only to let it grow back and keep it exactly the same length for the next five years.

"Happy junior year!" Ava greeted Jess excitedly. Jess was a mere ten months younger than Caroline and had managed to slip into the same year as her sisters and her best friends. The lack of a decent age difference kept her and Caroline close. Their parents refused to talk about why they had two kids so close together and then no more afterwards. Jess and Caroline's theory was that after Jess was born, the whole marriage started going downhill. Considering the divorce that had happened when they were younger, it wasn't a bad theory.

"Well, happy junior year to you too, Ava! Where's our third musketeer?" Jess looked around for Malia but couldn't find her in the crowd.

"Oh, you know she's probably with Jeremy. You know, those two would make better twins than her and Elena. Speaking of Elena, how is she, do you know? We both know how Malia is, I mean, we did last night. My cousin's here for his first day so can he sit with us at lunch or is our table an all girl's table? Wait, we don't have our own table, do we?"

"Take a breath, Ava." Jess reminded her, trying not to laugh at her friend's fast-paced talking. She lived with Caroline; she was used to it and had learned to keep up.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. And yes, Stefan can totally sit with us. It is Stefan, right?"

"Yep. Stefan Salvatore." It was one of the shortest explanations she had ever given anything. Jess pushed back her strawberry blonde hair and smiled.

"The bell's about to ring. Let's go."

* * *

Malia couldn't believe she was having an argument with both her siblings about her brother's drug use in the men's bathroom at the high school. It had not been on her to-do list that day.

"You haven't seen crazy, Jer!" Elena yelled.

"Elena, just stop!" Malia protested.

"Coddling him isn't helping, Malia." Elena returned.

"And yelling at him is?"

"You guys are insane." Jeremy turned and walked out of the bathroom. The twins watched him leave and then stared at each other.

"Nice job." They said in unison, both equally sarcastic. They hurried out of the bathroom and Elena ran smack into another student. Malia kept walking, glancing over her shoulder to see how Elena handled the embarrassment. She saw the face of the student that Elena had bumped into and recognition hit her. Memories of the car crash washed over her and she felt her heart rate pick up. She leaned against the nearest wall and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Malia?" Elena brushed past the other student and hurried over to her sister. Malia just shook her head. She couldn't think… she couldn't breathe… Elena put a hand on her shoulder and Malia took off. She sprinted through the school, her fight or flight reaction kicking in. Once she made it out of the school, she collapsed on her knees in the grass instead. A hand touched her shoulder and she let out a breathless scream.

"Malia, hey, it's me, it's me." Jeremy kneeled down beside her, keeping his hands on her shoulders. Vicki rushed over behind him, having followed him over from what the students had dubbed 'The Stoner Pit'.

"What's going on?" She demanded, folding her arms across her chest. Jeremy grabbed the strap of Malia's bag and pulled it off her shoulder.

"Do I need to, I dunno, call someone?" Vicki asked, looking around as if she was worried people were watching her hang out with a crazy person.

"No!" Malia managed to choke out. She was, slowly, calmly down. Jeremy handed her the bottle of Benzodiazepines **.**

"What is that?" Vicki asked. Malia was not in the right state of mind to answer and Jeremy didn't seem to hear her. Malia was calm enough to take a pill and Jeremy handed her a water bottle to take a swig from.

"Thanks." Malia murmured.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Peachy." She said sarcastically. Jeremy took Malia by the arms and pulled her gently to her feet.

"Should I call Jenna?"

"No. I'm fine." The last thing she needed was to be taken home from school because she freaked out the first day of junior year. She was just going to suck it up and force herself to make it through the day. Vicki gave one last longing look at the bottle of pills in Malia's hand and then left. Malia looked over her shoulder towards the school. The man that had saved her and Elena was real and he was still in Mystic Falls…

* * *

 **A/N Now, I'm no doctor but I did do some research for this chapter and I hope I wrote Malia's panic attack accurately.**

 **For all those who don't know, Adderall is a prescription pill used to treat ADHD.**

 **Jess Forbes wasn't in this chapter all that much, but that'll change. This chapter was just supposed to focus on Malia and her family rather than Ava and Jess.**

 **As I said above, I hope you like the story so far. Please review and tell me what you think.**


	2. Something Wicked

**A/N This is longer than the first chapter, but it finishes off the Pilot episode. The next chapter will focus on the second episode.**

* * *

Jess Forbes had clothes strewn around her room. The party at the falls was important; she had to dress as such.

"Fashion problem?" Caroline asked, poking her head into the room.

"More like fashion emergency."

"Here to help." That was the thing about Caroline: with all her ambitions, vast social life and many parties to plan, she wasn't always there when you wanted her, but she was there when you needed her. And, considering they needed to leave within the hour, Caroline was definitely needed.

"So what's up with you and Stefan Salvatore?" Jess asked, disappearing back into her closet in search of more clothes.

"Nothing, apparently." Caroline said with a sigh, pawing through the clothes on Jess's bed.

"But you're crushing on him, aren't you?" Jess returned with the remainder of the closet, an old t-shirt and a pair of high tops, in her hands.

"Well, who isn't?" Caroline asked with a giggle.

"Me." Jess suggested.

"And how are you not?" Caroline demanded, eyeing her sister suspiciously. Jess shrugged it off.

"I don't know. I guess I don't go for the brooding, mysterious guys."

"Then what guys do you go for?" Jess thought for about a second before replying with a smile.

"I like guys that are cunning, strategic, intelligent... He has to be protective of me. Endearing, maybe have a few nicknames for me. If he was a bit wild, crazy even, I don't think I'd mind. Charming. Maybe European..."

"Careful, I might steal your boyfriend." Caroline warned.

"Good luck. Even I haven't found him yet."

"Here, put this on. I'll be back to help you accessorize in a sec." Caroline pushed a dress into Jess's hands and then strode out of the room to get dressed herself. As Jess got dressed, she couldn't help but stare at the accent wall of her bedroom. The dark purple paint that was supposed to contrast the other white walls could barely be seen behind all the pictures she had hung there. A lot of them were out-dated; pictures of her and her parents, happy and together, from more years ago than Jess wanted to count. A crowded selfie from the year before featuring Caroline, Elena, Jess, Malia, Jeremy and Grayson and Miranda Gilbert was particularly upsetting. Elena and Malia were happy, hugging on their respective Forbes-friend and, although he didn't want to be in the picture, Jeremy wasn't overly upset. The fact that Grayson and Miranda were still alive when the picture was taken was the worst part.

"Okay, sit down." Caroline ordered, coming back into the room. Jess took a seat at her desk and let Caroline braid her hair.

"I heard about how you interrogated Stefan at the Grill."

"I did not! I had a few questions, that's all." Caroline protested.

"We have the most normal family among our friends."

"What?" Caroline asked, laughing at the sudden change of subject. Jess shrugged her shoulders.

"Our parents are divorced, sure, but that's a step up from the rest of the families in Mystic Falls." Caroline followed her sister's gaze to the pictures on the wall. She didn't say anything for a minute, but when she did, she changed the subject.

"Okay. Get up, get your shoes, get your jacket and let's go." Caroline had finished Jess's hair and gave her shoulders an excited squeeze before leaving the room.

* * *

Ava and Stefan walked down the stairs together. Ava was all dressed up for the party at the falls, which she insisted Stefan go to.

"You can't be a high school student if you don't go to the party." She had told him. He didn't see the logic in that statement, but he had agreed to go anyway. As they walked out the front door, Stefan turned to look at her.

"Does Malia ever talk to you about what happened the night her parents died?" Ava's face fell.

"Not often. Why?"

"I think she might remember something about me being there." Stefan remembered the way she had freaked out when she'd seen him, running out of the school like her life depended on it.

"She said that she hallucinated that someone rescued her but, I don't know, she hasn't talked about it a whole lot." Ava said with a shrug of her shoulders. After a minute, she sighed.

"Malia's one of my best friend's. I mean, she's practically my sister. So I know her, like, really well. Agreed?" She asked. Stefan nodded and waited for her to continue, which she did.

"She's scared. She still doesn't know what happens and her 'hallucinations'… she has this thing where she thinks she's always right so thinking she made something up that isn't true rubs her wrong. She's not going to stop until she figures out what happens." Ava climbed into her car and Stefan got into the passenger seat. As he got on his seatbelt, Ava turned to look at him.

"And her 'freak out' was a panic attack. Do me a favor and try not to set another off tonight?" She asked.

"I'll do my best."

"Good. I think tonight's going to be the most fun we've had in a while."

* * *

Malia knew she probably shouldn't be at the party. It brought up a lot of memories that she should've kept buried. But Jeremy and Elena were going, Jenna was at the library studying for her paper and staying home alone seemed too miserable. Ava and Jess found her within minutes and the trio looked around the wild bonfire party.

"So, a Gilbert, a Salvatore and a Forbes walk into a party… Sounds like the start of a bad joke." Malia mumbled.

"Tonight's going to be fun. We know a ton of people here! Zach said I can stay out pretty late as long as I'm with a group and this is a group so I can be here all night. Jenna's pretty loose on the rules, right? And, let's face it, Sheriff Forbes never says no to you and Caroline going out to a party."

"Breathe, Ava." Jess and Malia said in unison. Ava stopped talking and obeyed. The girls wandered around, mingling with other people they knew. Eventually, Jess went back to Caroline and they started dancing. With Ava roped into a conversation by Matt, Malia went to find someone else to hang out with.

"Malia Gilbert, right?" She turned around as someone spoke, opening her mouth to respond. Then she stopped and stared at the man in front of her.

"Stefan Salvatore." He offered a hand for her to shake, but she didn't.

"You're the one that was in the river that night… you ripped the door off our car and-." Stefan grabbed her by the arm and started pulling her away from the party before anyone could overhear her. Malia considered screaming, but what was she going to say? Besides, everyone around her was drunk and anyone still sober probably wouldn't be able to hear her over the loud music. She let herself get dragged away, mustering up her bravery for when she was going to have to physically fight him.

"I remember you telling me to forget everything!" She continued. Then she saw where they were. Wickery Bridge. She yanked herself from Stefan's grip. Stefan looked towards Wickery Bridge, as if realizing himself where they were. He turned back to her.

"I'm not going to hurt y-." He stopped abruptly. Malia was scrambling to her feet, cradling her bleeding hand. As if mad at the rock she had fallen on, she kicked it aside, hard. Then she turned back to Stefan and gasped. He turned around quickly, realizing that his fangs had extended and veins had appeared underneath his eyes. He heard her fleeing behind him. He hesitated, but couldn't let her go, knowing what she knew. He had to try and compel her again, even if his diet prevented it from working as well as it should. He raced after her with vampire speed and caught her. She let out a scream, but he clamped a hand over her mouth, trying his best to ignore the blood dripping from her hand.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Malia, I promise. But I need you to calm down." He pleaded. He was handling this all wrong and he knew it, but there wasn't anything else he could do. He could hear her heartbeat become rapid and felt her breathing getting shallow and fast-paced.

 _"And her 'freak out' was a panic attack. Do me a favor and try not to set another off tonight?"_ He remembered what Ava had said and released Malia, turning her around to look at her.

"It's okay, you're fine." Stefan assured her. She stumbled backwards away from him.

"What are you?" Malia demanded, breathless. Stefan considered his options. Compel her again and hope she didn't remember again for a couple of weeks? That wasn't a solution. Lie to her and let her run back to the bonfire and spread whatever story she pleased? He didn't want to flee this town again and he especially didn't want to leave a traumatized girl in his wake. Tell her the truth and hope he could convince her not to reveal his secret?

"I'm a vampire."

* * *

Elena looked around the clearing with a frown. She spotted Ava and went over to her. Ava abandoned her small-talk with another person and turned to talk to Elena.

"Hey, how have you been?"

"Lovely, except for the homework I have. First week and I already have homework. That sucks, but I'm sure you have the same homework and…. And you don't care. What did you really want to ask but avoided for politeness reasons?" Ava asked.

"Do you know where Stefan is?" Elena asked, smiling at the Salvatore girl. Ava frowned, glancing around.

"I don't know."

"It's alright. I'll find him later. I would think you'd be with Jess and Malia." Elena changed the subject to conceal her disappointment that Stefan had ditched her so soon after arriving at the party.

"Jess is with Caroline and Malia… I don't know where Malia is. With Jeremy, maybe?" Ava seemed to be talking to herself more than Elena. Elena looked around, but couldn't her twin either. Ava swallowed hard and hurried off, mumbling an excuse over her shoulder.

"Excuse me. I have to go find them… Both of them."

* * *

Malia was used to panic by now, perhaps a little too used to it. That didn't mean she enjoyed the feeling. And, staring a vampire in the eyes, she didn't appreciate the thought of her racing heart pumping yet more blood into her veins for him to enjoy.

"Not going to hurt me?" She repeated his words in disbelief. She motioned at him wildly, unable to form the words at first:

"You're…you're a… vampire!"

"You don't have to be scared of me. You can't tell anyone." Stefan was talking fast, trying to get as much information to her as possible before her inevitable fight of flight reaction kicked in. He took a step closer to her, holding out his hands as if in surrender. One step was too close. He hadn't known a girl could punch that hard until pain shot along his jaw.

"Malia?! Stefan!" Ava sprinted over to them, her red summer dress standing out in the dark like a neon light.

"What's going on?" She demanded, looking between them.

"He's some kind of monster!" Malia cried, backing away even further. Ava looked pleadingly at her best friend.

"Malia, if you don't want to listen to him then hear _me_ out." Malia looked like she had been slapped in the face.

"You…you knew… this whole time…about _him_?" Malia's breath grew even more ragged than before.

"Malia-." Ava started again. But Malia took off running into the tree line. Ava looked at Stefan.

"Did you go over to her?"

"I was trying to see what she knew."

"Oh, how did that work out for you?" Ava's cried, her voice a few octaves higher than usual.

"Okay… okay… just stay here. I'll get her. She'll listen to me more than she will to you. Right? Right. Stay here. Or go back to the party or something. Just don't follow me or her. Okay?" Ava gushed hurriedly. Stefan nodded once in agreement; he had screwed up enough tonight. She turned and hurried after her best friend.

* * *

Elena stumbled through the forest after Jeremy, annoyed with him, as usual.

"Jeremy?! Where are you going?" She called.

"Leave me alone, Elena!"

"Is Malia over there with you?" Elena squinted, trying to see through the dark of the forest.

"No." He called back without hesitation.

"Do you know where she is?" She could see him stop walking in front of her.

"Why?" Suspicion crept into his tone.

"Because I can't find her."

"Well, I can't find Vicki either." Jeremy said after a minute. Elena considered this. Vicki and Malia had never gotten along well and, considering how temperamental both of them had been recently, she didn't want to take any chances. She hurried to catch up with Jeremy.

"Let's find both of them."

* * *

Malia fell to her knees in the forest, trying and failing to catch her breath. She dug through her jacket pockets and managed to get her pill bottle out. After some medication was in her, she started to calm down naturally. She heard Ava calling after her and, for the first time in her life, she deliberately avoided her best friend. She got up and started running again. A root hit her ankle and she rolled down a hill. She landed on her stomach with a groan of pain. _Running from a vampire and your best friend and you trip down a hill… great going, Malia,_ she told herself bitterly. She stretched out her arms slightly to push herself up. Her hands touched something that felt like a hand. Confused, she looked up. Vicki Donovan was in front of her, unconscious and covered in blood. And Malia screamed.

* * *

Elena and Jeremy turned towards the scream that they knew to be Malia's in surprise. Jeremy took off running and Elena hurried along behind him, trying to keep up. They got to where Malia was quickly and Jeremy dropped to his knees beside her.

"Malia, are you-?" Elena started. Then she saw what had made Malia scream.

"Vicki?! Vicki!" Jeremy had already changed his focus to the unconscious girl. Elena rushed over and dropped to her knees as well.

"She's loosing a lot of blood. Something bit her neck. We need to get her out of here." Elena forced herself to think clearly. Jeremy wasted no time picking her up. Elena applied pressure to the wound as the three siblings hurried back towards the clearing.

* * *

Ava sprinted towards the sound of Malia's screaming but was caught by someone before she could reach them.

"Stefan, let me go!" She pleaded.

"Shush." He whispered. She obeyed, struggling feebly against him. He listened with his vampire hearing and she craned her neck to look at him.

"Vicki got attacked by a vampire."

"What?"

"She was bitten in the neck." He told her. Ava could do the math; she paled at the thought.

"We have to go."

"No, we need to help them!" She protested.

"They can handle it. The vampire's not after them."

"You know the vampire?"

"He's my brother."

"Are you sure?" She asked as they started walking in the opposite direction. Stefan nodded sullenly.

"That's the only vampire that would've followed me to Mystic Falls…"

* * *

Malia ran into the clearing ahead of her siblings.

"Someone help!" Everyone moved into action as they saw Jeremy carrying Vicki. Matt was the first to reach her.

"Vicki! What the heck happened to her?"

"Something bit her." Elena gasped out. Someone offered their jacket and it was pressed against the wound.

"Call 911!"

"I just did!"

"Is she going to be okay?"

"What bit her?" Malia stumbled away from the crowd, the confused yelling giving her a headache.

"Malia, did you see what happened?" Jess ran over to her. Then she saw Malia's expression.

"Are you alright?" Malia could only shake her head, no. Her vision blurred and she collapsed. Jess kneeled over her.

"Malia! Malia!" Caroline and Jeremy ran over. Jeremy's hands were covered in blood and Caroline was paler than usual.

"What happened?" Caroline asked. It was a question that was repeatedly being asked that night.

"She passed out. I think that she had a panic attack earlier." Jess told them, picking up the pill bottle that had fallen out of the outer pocket of Malia's jacket. The cap was barely on and Jess took it off to put it on correctly; she needed something to do with her hands anyway.

"Did she see what happened to Vicki?" Caroline wondered. Jess and Jeremy both shrugged, unsure.

* * *

Ava and Stefan rushed into the Salvatore Boarding House. Zach walked over to them, concerned by their sudden reappearance.

"What's going on?"

"Someone else got attacked tonight, Zach, and it wasn't me." Stefan ran up to his bedroom. Ava was unnaturally pale as she turned to her uncle.

"Damon's back in town."


	3. The Other Salvatore

**A/N I've decided that every episode is going to be broken into two chapters of semi-equal length, with the second half being the slightly longer each time. I was trying to do it so each episode was one chapter, but it would end up way too long and I don't want to bore everyone with way-too-long chapters every update. So this and the next chapter will both take place during The Night of the Comet.**

 **I have 54 views currently and while it's not great, it's a start. Thank you to my one reviewer, justwriteit1.**

 **I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Reviews are much appreciated.**

* * *

Elena walked out of her bedroom and looked at Jenna standing in front of the mirror in the hallway.

"Do I look adult? As in respectfully parental?"

"Depends on where you're going." Elena told her.

"Jeremy's parent-teacher conference. Hair up or down?" Jenna pulled her hair up to show Elena.

"Sexy stewardess." Jenna let it down.

"Boozy housewife."

"Up it is. You're feisty today." Jenna noted, tying her hair up. Elena smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I feel good, which is rare. So I've decided to go with it. Fly free, walk on the sunshine and all that stuff. Where's everyone else?"

"Jeremy left early… Something about getting to wood shop early to finish a birdhouse." Jenna explained. She stopped and looked at Elena.

"There's no wood shop is there?"

"No."

"Yeah."

"Malia?" Elena asked, glancing into the bathroom but finding it empty. She hadn't really expected Malia to be up yet. On a good day, she got up half an hour before school. And Elena doubted this was one of those good days. Jenna glanced towards the stairs that led up to Malia's attic bedroom. Then she lowered her voice to a whisper to answer, as if suddenly scared Elena's twin would hear them.

"Still in bed. I think I'll let her stay home today. She had it pretty rough last night. I'll go to the conference and then come straight home to hang with her, if she's awake."

"Good plan. I'll be home right after school."

"That would be nice if us girls could just hang out." Jenna agreed.

"Hey, remember our multiple conversations about not babying me?" Malia strode over to them, dressed and presentable for school. As long as everyone ignored her pale skin, slouched figure and the shadows under her eyes that told Elena she hadn't slept at all last night, she looked fairly normal.

"Are you okay?"

"What did I just say?" Malia growled. She brushed past Jenna and Elena to stomp downstairs. Elena and Jenna exchanged looks.

"She's in a good mood today." Jenna said sarcastically.

"Well… She was at the hospital for a long time last night. They wanted to make sure she was okay and you know how Malia hates it when people take care of her." Elena reminded her aunt.

"She doesn't look like she slept last night." Jenna pointed out.

"She's been getting worse lately." Elena murmured, running a hand through her hair.

"She'll be okay."

"I hope so…"

* * *

In the school hallway, Elena smiled up at Stefan, holding the Wuthering Heights book in her hands.

"I would like to read it one last time… But I'll give it back, I promise."

"Okay." Stefan agreed, nodding.

"Elena, with me. Now." Malia grabbed Elena's arm in a death grip as she passed and yanked Elena away from Stefan.

"Ow! What is wrong with you today?" Elena demanded as they rounded the corner into another hallway.

"You need to stay away from Stefan."

"Why?" Elena asked, confused.

"Because he's…" Malia trailed off. Elena looked at her, waiting impatiently for her to go on.

"Because he's not good for you. Just stay away from him, alright?" Malia let go of Elena's arm and hurried off.

* * *

Jess caught up to Caroline and Bonnie as they went to sit at a table outside of the school. Bonnie glanced over at her.

"Where's your gang, Jess?"

"I don't know." Jess said, upset that she couldn't find her own friends. As far as she had seen that morning, Ava was clinging to Stefan like a piece of lint and Malia was avoiding everyone, especially Ava and Stefan. The three girls sat down at a table and Caroline continued her previous conversation with Bonnie.

"I'm confused. Are you psychic or clairvoyant?"

"Technically, Grams says I'm a witch. My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something. Grams tried to explain it all, but she was looped on the liquor so I kinda tuned out. Crazy family, yes. Witches? I don't think so."

"Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night." Caroline muttered.

"I didn't see him, you did. Why didn't you just talk to him?" Bonnie asked, rolling her eyes.

"I don't know. I was drunk."

"Wait, what guy?" Jess asked, annoyed that she was out of the loop with both her friends and her sister.

"Your sister claimed she saw this guy at the Grill last night when I was trying to sober her up." Bonnie explained, brushing off the subject.

"I did see him, Bonnie Bennett!" Caroline cried.

"Okay, so you did." Bonnie caved in, more focused on her food than Caroline.

"What did he look like?" Jess asked eagerly. Caroline smiled, thinking about it.

"Black hair…blue eyes… older but not too old, you know? Totally hot."

"One a scale of one to ten, how hot?"

"Eleven." Caroline giggled. Jess looked at her, impressed that she would go above their normal scale.

"You should've seen him." Caroline added.

"I thought that Malia needed more attention. Apparently she doesn't want it, though…" And, just like that, Jess was back to be depressed. Malia strode past them, walking fast. Jess looked up hopefully, but Malia walked right past her.

"Maybe she's just not feeling well." Caroline suggested, seeing Jess's expression.

"She _does_ look like she's sick." Bonnie added. Jess shrugged and picked at her wilted salad.

"I don't know what's wrong with her."

* * *

Malia hurried over to Jeremy and Tyler. She could tell from across the schoolyard that they were about to go at it.

"I'm gonna kick your-." Tyler was saying.

"Tyler!" Malia protested, stopping beside Jeremy.

"You know, you keep saying that, but when are you actually going to do it? Huh? Cause I vote for right here and right now." Jeremy reached out and shoved Tyler. Malia stepped forward but Tyler was already shoving Jeremy back and she had to move quickly to avoid getting knocked into.

"Walk away, Gilbert. It's your final warning."

"No, this is your final warning. I'm sick of watching you play Vicki. If you hurt her one more time, I'll kill you." Jeremy threatened. Tyler stepped forward but Malia was the one to shove him back this time.

"Both of you need to knock it off. Jeremy, come here." Malia grabbed Jeremy by the hood of his sweatshirt and pulled him away. Tyler snickered at the sight of Jeremy getting dragged away by his sister, but fell silent at the death look he received from Malia.

"What is wrong with you today, Malia?" Jeremy complained, finally squirming free of her grip.

"Give me a month and I'll get you a list. You need to stay away from Tyler." Malia warned him.

"Or what?" Jeremy challenged half-heartedly.

"Or I'll be the one kicking your butt, got it?" Malia left, leaving Jeremy staring at her in shock.

* * *

Malia sat on the floor outside of Mr. Tanner's classroom, listening to him talking to Aunt Jenna.

"As Jeremy's teacher, I'm concerned. All right? It's the third day of school and he's skipped six of his classes." Mr. Tanner was saying. Malia bit back a bitter laugh. Concerned was not the word she would use to describe their teacher.

"Mr. Tanner, are you aware that Jeremy, Malia and Elena's parents died?"

"Four months ago, a great loss. Car accident. Wickery bridge, if I remember correctly. And you're related to the family how? The, uh, mother's kid sister?"

"Younger sister." Jenna corrected.

"Right."

"Yes. Six classes? Are you sure? I mean, that's kind of hard to do."

"Not when you're on drugs. It's his attempt at coping, Ms. Somers. And the signs are there. He's moody, withdrawn, argumentative, hung-over. Are there any other relatives in the picture?"

"I'm their sole guardian." Jenna told him firmly.

"Uh-huh. Could there be?"

"What are you suggesting, exactly?"

"It's an impossible job, isn't it, raising three teens?" Malia turned her head, listening harder to hear Jenna's response.

"It's been tough, but, no, it's not."

"Wrong answer. It is an extremely impossible job, and anything less and you're not doing it properly." Malia flinched, even if she wasn't the one being told off.

"Your nephew is a drug addict. Your niece, Malia, might not be on the drugs but she has no respect for the teaching staff. She's rude; she's distant at the best of times and a complete slacker more often. Elena is distracted, hardly does any of her homework… Tell me, is that how they were last year?" Mr. Tanner continued.

"That's not a fair-."

"I wish to see an improvement in all three of them, Ms. Somers." Mr. Tanner told her firmly. Malia got to her feet as Jenna walked out a minute later, hanging her head. Jenna looked up as Malia stood up.

"Were you listening?"

"Yeah." Malia agreed without any shame. Jenna sighed and then pulled Malia into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry, Malia, for everything."

* * *

Ava was lying on her bed, her face buried in her pillow. Stefan walked into the room, pausing in the doorway.

"I thought you were going to The Grill."

"That was my plan before it sunk in that my best friend hated me." She moaned without looking up. Stefan walked over to sit on the edge of her bed.

"She doesn't hate you. And this is my fault, so I'll figure out a way to fix it."

"Really?" She mumbled.

"Yes." He assured her. Ava turned her head so that she could look at him.

"Did you compel Vicki today?"

"She thinks she got attacked by an animal."

"But your compulsion sucks. I mean, Malia recovered from it within a month. But Malia _is_ smarter than Vicki… Oh, that was mean to say about an injured drug addict. Okay, that was mean too…." Ava turned and buried her face in her pillow again. Stefan glanced around her room. She had some kind of gypsy bohemian style going on, crowded and unorganized to boot, that he wasn't about to comment on. He turned and looked back at her again.

"I'm sorry." He apologized.

"You sound more like a father and less like my cousin every day."

"Well, I'm not technically your cousin, so…" He trailed off; he'd already made his point. Ava groaned, rolling over onto her back to stare at her ceiling.

"I need a best friend."

"You have two."

"One hates me and the other is currently hanging out with her sister. No, I don't need a best friend. I need a sibling. Of course I need parents to get a sibling, so that's not happening…" Stefan looked away, uncomfortable. He had been there when Damon had killed her father, prompting her mother to flee Mystic Falls, terrified of what she'd seen. Custody of Ava was quickly transferred to Zach and she had been raised by him. She knew what had happened to her parents; it had never been a secret. It just wasn't something they openly discussed around the house. Ava sat up and nudged Stefan's shoulder.

"Will you hang out with me?"

"What are we doing right now?" He asked. She smiled and jumped off her bed, crossing the small room to grab something from her desk. She returned with her Mp.3, which was already connected to a headphone splitter and two sets of headphones. She passed one pair over to Stefan and then collapsed on her bed again. With music blaring in their ears, Ava seemed to relax. After a few minutes, Stefan pulled the headphones off and listened intently. Ava sat up again, pulling off her own headphones.

"What?"

"Damon and Elena." Stefan got up and rushed out of the room.

"What?" She repeated, even though he was already gone. She jumped off her bed and sprinted after him, taking the stairs two at a time. As she neared the living room, she could hear Elena's voice.

"You say it like every relationship is doomed to end."

"I'm a fatalist. Hello, Stefan." Ava nearly ran into Stefan as she rounded the corner into the living room itself. She got a glance at Damon, saw his infamous evil smirk and decided it was in her best interest to stay behind Stefan.

"Elena. I didn't know you were coming over." Stefan stared hard at Damon, as if daring him to try something. Elena looked extremely uncomfortable.

"I know. I should have called, I just…"

"Oh, don't be silly. You're welcome any time. Isn't she, Stefan? You know, I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies. But… I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker."

"Thank you for stopping by, Elena. Nice to see you." Stefan's tone wasn't very pleasant; he was still watching Damon. Elena motioned towards the door.

"Yeah, I should probably go. It was nice to meet you, Damon."

"Great meeting you, too, Elena." Damon gave her a wide smile. Stefan was standing in Elena's way and she hesitated.

"Stefan… Stefan?" He moved aside and Elena hurried out.

"Great gal. Woo. She's got spunk. You, on the other hand, look pooped. Did you over-exert yourself today? Let me guess… hospital." Damon looked extremely comfortable in the living room, watching Stefan with an amused look.

"Someone had to clean up your mess."

"And your mess with the little Gilbert girl? That's going to take a little more cleaning up, if you know what I mean." Damon made a slicing motion across his throat. Ava leapt forward and Stefan caught her before she made it to Damon.

"Don't ever go near Malia!" Ava warned. Damon just smiled at her.

"You got spunk too, little niece."

"How long was Elena here?" Stefan asked, still keeping a hold on Ava, lest she should decide to get any closer to Damon.

"Were you worried, Stefan? Scared we may be doomed to repeat the past? Isn't that why you play your little game, 'I'm a high school human'?"

"I'm not playing any game."

"Of course you are. We both know the closest you'll ever get to humanity is when you rip it open and feed on it." Ava visibly flinched, as if she'd forgotten that Stefan was a vampire.

"What kind of game are you playing, Damon?" Stefan demanded, finally releasing Ava. She took a step back from both Salvatore brothers. Damon smirked again.

"Guess you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"


	4. Harbinger of Evil

**A/N This is the last part of The Night of the Comet. Enjoy.**

* * *

Jenna looked up from the kitchen counter where she and Elena were preparing dinner as Jeremy walked into the house.

"Jeremy? Jeremy, where were you?" Jenna hurried out of the kitchen, an apple still in hand, as Jeremy headed up the stairs.

"More stoner stories? Look, Jenna, I get it, you were cool. And so that's…that's cool." Jeremy murmured.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Jenna hurled the apple at Jeremy, hitting him in the head.

"Ow! Why? Why… why did you do that?"

"Listen up! Quit ditching class or you're grounded. No discussion." Jenna yelled. Jeremy just smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

"Parental authority, I like it. Sleep tight." He walked up the stairs towards his bedroom. Jenna groaned in frustration.

"And stay away from Malia until you're sober! She's screwed up enough as it is!" She added in a yell. Malia looked up from the couch.

"Gee, thanks." Jenna visibly jumped and turned around.

"Jeez! I thought you were in your bedroom."

"I can slip under the radar easier than you might think." Malia rolled over onto her side and buried her face in the pillow again without another word. Jenna and Elena looked at each other. One teenager was stoned and the other one was acting crazier than usual… Jenna glanced at a picture of Grayson and Miranda hanging on the wall and then turned and walked away from it, shaking her head.

* * *

Ava sat on the couch in the Salvatore Boarding House, watching Zach and Stefan argue in front of her.

"What is Damon doing here? Why did he come home?" Zach demanded.

"Because I came home. He wants to make my life miserable. That's how he enjoys his."

"Well, he's putting us all at risk. This girl in the hospital could talk."

"She won't. I took care of her." Stefan explained.

"You're sure?" Zach pressed.

"I'm not sure, Zach. I don't know how well it worked. I'm not as strong as Damon."

"So what happens if it doesn't work?"

"I don't know. I'll deal with it."

"And the other girl? Malia Gilbert?" Zach added. Stefan ran a hand over his face. Ava stood up.

"She hasn't said anything to either of us. We don't know what she's going to do."

"Well, I would figure it out if I was you." Zach told her. Ava nodded, hard and fast, in agreement. Zach turned back to Stefan.

"Is she worth it? Uncle Stefan, this girl you came back for?" Without waiting for an answer, Zach hurried out of the room. Ava collapsed back on the couch again and pulled her phone out of her pocket.

"I've called Malia exactly thirteen times since school got out. She hasn't picked up or called me back. I've texted her twenty-one times throughout the day and she hasn't texted me back. If I have to go to Diagon Alley and buy an owl to send to her…" Ava trailed off as she got to work texting Malia again.

"Do you think she would be at the celebration, the Night of the Comet?" Stefan asked.

"Malia doesn't do celebrations unless there's gift-giving involved. Christmas and her birthday… that's about as much celebrating as she can do in a year unless Jess or I can rope her into a couple other birthday parties. She'll go to ours, no problem, but it's other people that she has a problem celebrating. I mean, a couple years ago, she tried to convince her parents that she and Elena should have separate birthdays so that she got a whole day to herself where people celebrated her birth. She really worked hard on her argument of why it should happen. It didn't work and I think she's still a little bitter about the whole thing." Ava rambled, finally stopping herself and taking a deep breath.

"So is that a no?" Stefan asked.

"That's a maybe… I don't think I know her very well at all anymore. Elena will be there and we can find out where she is from her. If all else fails, we can bring out the big guns." Ava mused, standing up and grabbed her jacket from the back of a nearby chair.

"The big guns?" Stefan echoed, confused.

"Jeremy. Get Jeremy to bring her to us. He loves nothing more than to help me and Jess and Malia enact our evil plans. I'll come up with some excuse and I can guarantee she will be delivered kicking and screaming into our custody within minutes." Ava said with a grin. She nudged Stefan's shoulder to get him moving.

"Let's go to the town square."

* * *

Elena and Jenna had Malia by the arms, practically dragging her into the town square where the Night of the Comet celebration was already in full swing.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity." Jenna was saying.

"I don't care. Let me go." Malia squirmed to get free. Jenna released her. Although surprised, Elena did the same.

"Fine. Go home. Mope about something you don't feel inclined to tell us about. But you hear Mr. Tanner. We need improvements around here." Jenna huffed and walked away. Elena looked over at Malia.

"I know that we've never been the closest of siblings, but… Can't you tell me what's going on?"

"You would call me crazy."

"I always call you crazy." Elena said with a laugh. Then she saw Malia face and turned somber again.

"Sorry."

"I don't want to talk about it. It's just… Stefan isn't the guy you want to hang around." Malia told her. Elena sighed.

"What is it with you and him? What happened?"

"It was intense, it was frightening and I'll leave the rest to your imagination. Stay away from him." Scaring her away from Stefan was Malia's first part of her plan. She had had forty-eight hours of very little sleep and a lot of deep thought and was now calmer. Her boldness was returning, even if she was still more than a little frightened at the fact that vampires existed in her own home town.

"Wait, what?" Elena asked, frowning. Malia spotted Stefan and hurried away from her sister. To make sure Elena wasn't on her trail, she zigzagged through the crowd for a moment until she walked over to Stefan.

"Stefan." She greeted him curtly as she reached him. Ava bounded over.

"Malia, I-." Malia held up a hand to silence her, which worked, and kept her eyes on Stefan instead.

"I was thinking… Why would a big bad vampire be so afraid of one girl knowing his secret? I couldn't do anything. No one would believe me. But what if someone would? I mean, if you're trying so hard to keep it a secret from a girl who's practically been labeled 'crazy' since last summer, you have to be scared of someone finding out." Malia asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"Who did you tell?"

"No one. Yet. If you ever come near Elena, Jeremy, Jenna, Jess or even Caroline or Bonnie... Then I'm' going to go straight to the sheriff. Maybe she doesn't believe me… Maybe the mayor will. There's got to be someone in this town in power that knows about vampires or you wouldn't be so keen to keep your secret." Malia actually smiled at Stefan's discomfort.

"I believe that if you wanted to kill me, you would've killed me. I also know that you saved me last summer. So I'll play nice. You can say goodbye to my sister. After that, stay away from everyone I care out or I will personally lead the town to your doorstep and light their torches for them, got it?"

"Malia-." Ava started again, sounding desperate, but Malia shot her a look that silenced her.

"And you can stay away from me too. You might not be a vampire, but you're protecting one."

"But I-."

"Stefan, Ava, hey." Elena walked over to them, giving Malia a familiar weird, concerned look.

"Hi." Stefan returned.

"Enjoy this conversation." Malia gave Stefan a fake smile and walked off. Ava, looking ready to cry, turned and hurried the other direction.

"You know, that comet… it's been traveling across space for thousands of years. All alone." Stefan glanced up at the sky and Elena followed suit.

"Yeah, Bonnie says it's a harbinger of evil."

"I think it's just a ball of snow and ice, trapped on a path that it can't escape. And once every one hundred and forty-five years, it gets to come home. I'm sorry about yesterday. I wasn't myself."

"You seem to spend a lot of time apologizing." Elena noted.

"Well, I have a lot to apologize for. Yesterday, that wasn't about you, okay?"

"You didn't tell me that you had a brother."

"We're not close. It's, uh… it's complicated."

"Always. He told me about your ex. Katherine."

"What did he say?" Stefan asked, looking over at her.

"That she broke your heart."

"That was a long time ago."

"When you lose someone, it stays with you, always reminding you of how easy it is to get hurt."

"Elena…" She turned to face him, finally, but she was looking anything but happy.

"I don't know what you did to my sister, but this… this isn't happening until Malia and I can straighten things out with each other, alright? We met, and we talked, and it was epic, but… then the sun came up and reality set in." Elena blew out her candle and walked away.

* * *

Malia stood in the bathroom at the Grill, splashing water over her face. She was exhausted, she was half-certain that Stefan was going to come after her in all his vampire power and her bluff of saying that there was some kind of secret vampire counsel might have been just that: a bluff. She straightened up and glanced at herself in the mirror. She looked horrible; even she had to admit that to herself. She leaned down to splash more water on her face, trying to keep herself awake until she could go home and crawl into bed.

"Malia." She jumped and whirled around, searching for whoever had called her name. There was no one there. She shook the excess water off her hands, turned off the faucet and headed for the door. Someone grabbed her by the shoulders and clamped a hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming. In the next second, she was on the very edge of a roof. She struggled to get free and was spun around by the man holding her. He locked eyes with her.

"Don't scream." As much as she wanted to, she couldn't make herself scream. She looked at him in horror.

"No, no…" She murmured, barely getting the words above a whisper.

"Shush, I'm not gonna drop you." He assured her. Stefan jumped onto the roof.

"Damon…" He warned. Damon just smiled at him.

"Not bad. Have you been eating bunnies?"

"Let her go."

"Really? Okay." Damon started pushing Malia off the roof as she struggled to brave her feet against something.

"No!" Stefan cried. Damon stopped.

"Ugh, relax." He pushed Malia towards Stefan, hard. She stumbled into his arms and then jerked back from him.

"I don't need her to be dead, but… you might. I heard her little threats to you earlier, brother, and I've got to say… Gilbert Barbie's got a good head on her shoulders. Bold, too. I like that." Damon gave Malia a smile as she glared at him.

"If you couldn't fix it before, I don't know what you can do now. Vicki, Malia… You've got problems, brother. Your choice of lifestyle has made you weak. A couple of vampire parlor tricks is nothing compared to the power that you could have, that you now need. But you can change that. Human blood gives you that." Damon grabbed Malia by the arm and pulled her over to him. He bit into her neck and she still wasn't able to scream out in pain. He let her go and she fell to her knees, blood pouring out of her neck. Stefan looked away from her.

"You have two choices. You can feed and make her forget. Or you can let her run, screaming 'vampire' through the town square."

"That's what this is about? You want to expose me?" Stefan demanded.

"No! I want you to remember who you are!"

"Why? So what, so I'll feed? So I'll kill? So I'll remember what it's like to be brothers again? You know what, let her go. Let her tell everyone that vampires have returned to Mystic Falls. Let them chain me up, and let them drive a stake through my heart, because at least I'll be free of you."

"Huh. Huh. Wow. Come here, sweetheart." Damon pulled a struggling Malia over to him again.

"No, no, don't, please don't." Malia cried. Damon looked her in the eyes.

"You're not going to tell anyone about vampires."

"I'm not going to tell anyone about vampires." She repeated tonelessly. Damon nodded and released her. She stumbled back from him.

"She'll know about vampires, she'll be tormented by the knowledge… but we're safe!" Damon announced to Stefan.

"It's good to be home. Think I might stay a while. This town could use a bit of a wake-up call, don't you think?"

"What are you up to, Damon?"

"That's for me to know and for you to… dot dot dot. Give Elena my best."

* * *

Stefan pressed a large bandage onto Malia's neck as they sat in the dark, abandoned Gilbert Clinic.

"He's… he's messing with my head… Why? What did I do to him?" She was sobbing by now.

"Humans are just games to him. Look, Malia, I'm sorry. I'm doing my best to keep him in line."

"Was that 'in line'?!" Malia demanded.

"No, I'm sorry." He repeated. Her jacket and shirt was covered in blood. He helped her slip off the jacket and then turned his back as she got her shirt over her head. The tank top she was wearing underneath was still clean, so she just tossed the jacket and over shirt aside.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Did you know that my wrist was broken during the car crash? I sat on the river bank, terrified and in immense pain, waiting for the ambulance to show up. I can handle pain, Stefan." She seemed slightly calmer now, though still angry.

"I'll talk to Elena about you." She added.

"Damon compelled you-."

"Not about you being a vampire. I'll talk to her about liking you again." With that said, Malia left the clinic.

* * *

Elena and Jenna were putting everything in Jeremy's room back in place. Jenna's drug search had come up fruitful and she had put it all aside to lecture Jeremy about later. Malia walked into the room.

"Elena? Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah, sure, I… Malia, what happened to your neck?" Jenna looked up at Elena's outburst and they both stared at the bandage on Malia's neck. Malia rolled her eyes and lied smoothly.

"I went into dad's old clinic to think, got cut by a broken piece of glass. I'll have you know I came very near to having my throat slit and bleeding out."

"Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. Stefan helped me out."

"Stefan?" Elena echoed.

"He's not a bad guy. He's… he's nice. You should hang out with him. What I said before… It wasn't true. He was talking to me about you and I had thought he liked me and I got jealous so I got mean… and I'm sorry." Elena rushed over to hug Malia, surprising her.

"Are you sure he's okay?"

"He's a lot better than his brother." Malia mumbled.

"Then I'm going to go talk to him. If he didn't do anything… then I might have to apologize for how I've acted." Elena pulled away to look at her sister. Malia nodded in agreement.

"Go hang out with him." Elena hurried off.

"Malia Gilbert, jealous?" Jenna asked.

"It can happen to the best of us. Goodnight." Malia hurried upstairs to her attic bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Once she was on her bed, she collapsed on her pillows, already crying again.


	5. Insanity

**A/N This is part one of Friday Night Bites**

* * *

Malia picked at her over-cooked eggs in distaste. Jeremy walked over to her and offered her one of the pop-tarts in the package. She took it gratefully, pushing away her plate. Elena walked into the kitchen, silently walking over to the fridge to grab the carton of orange juice.

"Jenna got your prescription refilled." Jeremy handed Malia a full bottle of pills.

"Thanks." She took it and tossed it carelessly into her bag.

"I'm heading to school." She mumbled. She shoved the last of the pop-tart into her mouth, grabbed her stuff and walked out the door without another word. Elena looked at Jeremy.

"Why are you being so nice to her all of a sudden?"

"I'm always nice to her."

"Not coddling, sharing-your-food, making sure she has her pills kind of nice." Elena protested. Jeremy just shook his head.

"I think she could use someone taking care of her."

"She hates people taking care of her, Jer."

"Didn't you hear her crying last night?"

"What?" Elena paused with her glass of juice halfway to her mouth. Jeremy pulled on his worn-out black hoodie with a shrug.

"Her bed's directly over mine; I could hear her crying all night. Something's going on with her; she's acting weirder than usual."

* * *

Jess pounded on Caroline's door, annoyed and confused by her sister's absence that morning.

"Caroline, we need to go!"

"I'll be out a minute."

"You were supposed to be ready to go half an hour ago!" Jess protested, glancing at the clock hanging on the wall in the hallway.

"I said I'll be out in a minute, okay?" Caroline snapped. Jess backed away from the door.

"Okay… Sorry." Jess turned to walk away but turned back when the door opened. Instead of Caroline, a dark haired man walked out of the room.

"Baby Forbes." He greeted Jess before disappearing into the living room. Jess heard the front door open and shut a second later. Caroline came into view, still tugging on a shirt.

"Great! He left." She complained.

"Who was that?"

"Damon Salvatore. Elena got one brother, I got the hotter one." Caroline said with a smile. Then she seemed to remember who had interrupted her morning in the first place and gave Jess a look of distaste.

"Let's go to school if you're _that_ eager to get going."

* * *

Malia hurried over to Stefan and Ava in the school parking lot, catching Stefan's arm to stop him. They both turned around to face her.

"Did Elena go to see you last night?"

"Yeah, she did." Stefan nodded.

"Good. Be nice to her. She hates secrets though, so no more lying than necessary, alright?"

"Wait, since when are you okay with all of this?" Ava demanded. She seemed much more collected today than usual.

"Okay with my sister dating a-?" Malia stopped abruptly; 'anyone' included Stefan and Ava themselves. She couldn't say the word 'vampire' out loud. Malia's chin trembled slightly but then she took a deep breath and started over.

"Okay with my sister dating Stefan? No. But I'm even less okay with the thought of Damon hurting her. I have to watch out for Jenna and Jeremy as it is; having Stefan protect Elena is the best option right now." She explained. She turned back to Stefan.

"Elena should be here soon and she always heads straight into school." It was a silent, only slightly subtle message for him to keep walking.

"I'll see you girls later." Stefan told them, walking away; message received. Ava and Malia turned to each other.

"Are you okay with what happened with Damon and Stefan and… Okay, stupid question." Ava scolded herself.

"How long have you known that he was the guy that saved me and Elena from the car crash?"

"Um… All summer." Ava admitted, chewing on her lip.

"Everyone thought I was going crazy and they almost had me convinced that I really was… and you knew what had really happened!" Malia was six inches taller than Ava on a normal day and now, Ava felt even smaller.

"Malia, I'm sorry! I didn't know what to say to you and it wasn't my secret to give away and I thought if I just ignored the problem it would go away and I'm sorry! I just wanted everything to be perfect. I had a distant uncle slash cousin that actually acted like a teenager instead of just living with Zach like I had been my entire life! I didn't want to ruin anything and have him leave again! And-."

"Breathe, Ava." Malia told her, smiling slightly. Relieved that Malia didn't seem overly mad at her, she obeyed.

"Are you mad?"

"Definitely. You're just one of the lesser angers I have." Malia assured her. Ava considered it and shrugged; it wasn't a completely bad comment. The two girls walked towards the school together.

* * *

Jess found Ava and Malia at an otherwise empty table during lunch and hesitantly walked over.

"Are we all friends again?"

"Kind of. We're working out the problem." Ava agreed. Jess gave them both weird looks and sat down.

"So what are we talking about?"

"Nothing." Malia admitted.

"Okay… Then I have a question for Ava regarding her family." Ava paled and looked at Jess.

"Regarding what now?"

"You have two cousins."

"Uh…"

"And Caroline got the older one. She's thrilled about it. Not too thrilled with me, for some reason. Seriously, she's been acting weird all day." Jess complained, ripping open a bag of chips.

"The Salvatore's tend to have that effect on people." Malia looked ready to break her water bottle with the death grip she had on it. Ava swallowed hard.

"Um… Stefan and Damon and Malia don't get along with each other. Especially Damon and anyone else." She explained to Jess shortly.

"Sorry I brought it up." Jess mumbled. Ava brought her palms down on the table and the impact shook the entire top.

"We have to stop acting like this! We all have to be best friends again. No awkwardness, no weirdness, nothing of the sort." She complained. Malia mumbled something that sounded an awful lot like 'that ship has sailed'.

"Well, I would invite you guys to my house, but I'm afraid we'd run into You-Know-Who if Caroline invites him over again." Jess told them.

"And running into Voldemort would be strange, agreed. My house is a no-go too." Ava agreed.

"Then my house is officially the safe-house. After school, we can hang out there." Malia offered. Ava grinned.

"Perfect."

* * *

Ava and Jess had never liked the feel of Malia's room. It had one window, which hardly ever caught any sunlight or moonlight, dim electric lighting and low ceilings. Malia, however, seemed perfectly comfortable in the dark room.

"I will never understand why you wanted this room so badly." Ava sat down at the desk chair and start twirling it around.

"It was either this or continue sharing a room with Elena."

"Oh, the horror of sharing a room with your sister!" Jess said sarcastically, taking a seat on the ottoman by her rack of clothes. There wasn't a closet in the room, just a rack she could roll around wherever she wanted.

"You mean the same sister that just kicked us out of the living room because she wanted to have a dinner party with Bonnie and Stefan? Yeah, sharing a room with her was dysfunctional at best." Malia stripped off her jacket and tossed it towards her bed carelessly. Jess caught sight of the bandage on her neck.

"Whoa, is that why you've had your collar up all day?" Malia reached up to touch the bandage, as if reminding herself it was still there.

"Yeah… I cut it. Accidentally."

"On the neck?"

"I'm tall; what would go over your head gets my neck." It was true in more ways than one; Jess was oblivious to vampires and a vampire had been the thing to attack her neck like it was chew toy.

"What should we do?" Ava asked, still twirling around in the desk chair.

"Movies!" Jess looked longingly at the small TV placed on Malia's long dresser.

"I don't have any in here. I'll go down to the living room, risk the wrath of Elena and get one. Snacks?" Malia asked.

"Yes!" They agreed.

"What movie?"

"Anything with shirtless guys." Ava said quickly.

"On it." Malia went downstairs to the second floor and then started on the second flight of stairs. The doorbell rang as she hit the last step. Elena turned around in her chair in the dinning room.

"I got it." Malia assured her, motioning for her to stay there. She opened the front door to find herself face to face with Damon and Caroline.

"Surprise! Bonnie said you guys were doing dinner, so we brought dessert."

"Yeah, I'm not doing dinner, so-." Elena hurried over.

"Oh, Caroline, hey." She greeted her friend, surprised. Malia moved out of the way, standing behind the door instead.

"Hope you don't mind." Malia couldn't see him, but she could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan walked over to them and Malia gave him a meaningful look.

"Waiting for Elena to invite me in."

"Oh, yeah, you can-."

"No, no. He can't, uh... he can't stay. Can you, Damon?" Stefan asked.

"Get in here." Caroline walked past Elena.

"We're just... finishing up." Stefan added.

"It's fine. Just come on-."

"Elena." Malia interrupted, warning her. Elena gave her and Stefan a confused look and turned back to Damon, a little wearier.

"It's okay. Come in." Damon stepped inside.

"You have a beautiful home, Elena."

"Thank you."

* * *

After a few minutes, Jess and Ava migrated downstairs to see what was taking so long. When they saw Damon, they looked at their respective family members. Caroline ignored Jess's concerned look but Stefan caught Ava's eye. He just shook his head; there was nothing he could do about it.

"I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething. But good for you. Go for it." Caroline was telling Stefan, who was barely even listening anymore.

"That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it." Damon agreed. He was sitting in the armchair with Caroline perched on the side. Elena, Bonnie and Stefan were sitting on the couch. Jess and Malia went to sit on the loveseat and Ava hurried to sit on the arm of the couch next to Stefan.

"Don't you have something to go get, Damon?" Malia asked coldly. Elena shot her a 'be nice' look that Malia completely ignored. Damon just smiled at Malia, which ticked her off more than anything else.

"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today. It's only because you missed summer camp. I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines." Caroline said with a laugh. Jess's concerned expression turned to her usual 'why did my sister say that' look.

"I'll work with her. She'll get it." Bonnie told Caroline reassuringly.

"I guess we can put her in the back." She mused.

"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena." Damon was smiling at Elena now, who was starting to get uncomfortable.

"Oh, it's just because her parents died. Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun. And I say that with complete sensitivity." Caroline added quickly.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die. Ava, too, with her parents and all." Damon told her. Ava looked away and Stefan glared at him.

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon."

"Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring _her_ up."

"Uh… I'm going to clear the table off a little." Elena jumped up and started gathering dishes.

"I actually have to use the bathroom." Bonnie hurried upstairs. Elena left the room and Caroline started chatting with Stefan, who looked like he would rather be anywhere but there. Jess buried her face in her hands, as if feeling the embarrassment her sister seemed to be immune to. Damon collected a glass from the coffee table Elena had left and went into the kitchen. Malia and Ava looked at Stefan, but he didn't get up. Malia looked over the back of the loveseat to watch Damon and Elena in the kitchen. When they got too close together, Malia got up and walked in.

"Damon." The one word made both Elena and Damon turn to look at her.

"Malia, right? Yeah, Ava talks about you all the time."

"I doubt she talks about me to you. In fact, I doubt anyone really talks to you unless you make them."

"Malia!" Elena looked shocked; her sister could be mean at times, but she'd never seen Malia act like that.

"You're a confrontational little thing, aren't you? Well, I'm sorry if we got off on the wrong foot."

"That's an understatement." The look that Malia gave Damon made him rethink being in the kitchen.

"I'll go check on the other kids." He walked off. Elena looked at her sister, still shocked and angry with her.

"What is wrong with you tonight?"

"I agree that Stefan's not a bad guy. I never said Damon wasn't the devil without a disguise." She walked out of the kitchen and went back into the living room. Jess was just getting her things and Caroline seemed ready to leave as well.

"Thanks for trying tonight." Jess whispered to Malia. Malia nodded. The two Forbes sisters left the house and Damon picked up his jacket from the back of the chair. He headed for the door. Bonnie stopped hiding upstairs and went straight into the kitchen instead. Damon watched her go out of hear-shot and then turned back to Malia.

"I repeat: confrontational. Careful, it's not smart to piss off a vampire."

"I'm not scared of you, whether you're a-." When Malia had to stop, Damon burst out laughing.

"You can't talk about vampires to _anyone,_ can you? Wow. Unexpected but funny." He told her. She glared at him.

"Have fun slowly going insane, Gilbert Barbie." With that said, Damon left the house. Malia locked the door after him.


	6. Fight Night

**A/N The last half of Friday Night Bites**

* * *

Ava sat at her dressing table, focusing on braiding her hair. There was a knock on her bedroom door and she let out an involuntary shriek.

"It's me." Stefan assured her as she whirled around. She looked at him wearing his football jersey and frowned.

"Damon can get into the house. I'm a bit… on edge. And you're playing football? What if you hurt someone? Or someone hurts you? Oh, no, that's not possible. Well… Do you still feel pain even though you heal super fast?"

"Yes to the first question. I'm trying not to hurt anyone. And yes, I still feel pain. Anything else?" He asked.

"Are you already giving Elena's gifts? There's a fine line between nice new boyfriend and clingy boyfriend." Ava told him, finishing her braid. Stefan looked down at the box in his hand.

"It's a necklace with Vervain in it."

"I thought you didn't have Vervain."

"I had a little, which I split into these." He put the one box aside and then, carefully, pulled another necklace out by the chain from his pocket.

"Who's that for? Because Malia hates butterflies." Ava told him, staring at the heart-shaped locket that had a tiny golden butterfly in the center.

"If Damon was going to mess with Malia anymore, he'd have done it already. This is for you, since, as you pointed out, he can get into this house whenever he wants. Here." Stefan put it around her neck for her.

"Oooh, pretty. Thanks. But what if he takes it off."

"He would have to know there's Vervain in it to start with."

"So it's a secret? How many secrets are we going to have, Stefan?"

"I'll handle Damon… get him to leave town… after that, everything will be much simpler."

"Somehow, I doubt that."

* * *

The football game was about to begin. Coach Tanner was giving his normal, adrenaline-exhilarating speech. Ava stood near the sidelines with the cheerleaders, since Caroline seemed to have nothing better to do than interrogate her about Damon and Stefan. She glanced around, only half listening to the older Forbes girl.

"Caroline, the other cheerleading team is saying that they're better than us." Jess told her, walking up. Caroline stopped her question and looked at her sister.

"Are you serious?" Jess barely had time to nod before Caroline was rushing over to chew them out. Jess and Ava smiled at each other.

"Thanks; I wasn't sure how to get away from her." Ava watched as Caroline and a cheerleader from the opposing school argued a few yards away.

"She's… eccentric." Jess admitted, never one to straight-out insult her sister.

"It's completely weird." She added, straightening out her short, red-and-black cheerleader skirt.

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific. There are a lot of weird things going around and they happen to be regarding my family, for the most part."

"My sister dating your cousin."

"Are they 'dating', though? I thought it was more of a…" Ava trailed off, embarrassed.

"Oh, no, apparently they're both in it for the long term, not just the bedroom." Jess told her.

"Will that make us cousin's in law?" Ava asked, giggling.

"Okay, the game is about to start and I'm done with this conversation." Jess shuddered and walked away, leaving Ava still giggling more nervously than happily. What were they going to do about Damon and Caroline?

* * *

Malia was lounging in the bed of a truck, with Jeremy and the rest of his so-called friends at the tail-gate. She wondered if it was possible to fall asleep. She decided it was very possible for her to just pass out right about then, but considering where she was, not a good idea. Suddenly, Jeremy got up. Malia looked up.

"Oh, don't look so down, you can have her when I'm done." Tyler told him. Jeremy punched him in the face and they started fighting. Malia jumped off the bed of the truck.

"Jeremy, Tyler, stop!" She tried to get in between them, but a missed swing Tyler made at Jeremy hit her in the face. She hit the ground as Tyler and Jeremy threw each other around like rag-dolls. Vicki just stood there, yelling.

"Stop, you're hurting him! Tyler! Tyler, stop! Tyler! Stop it! Tyler, stop!" Tyler had Jeremy on the ground, repeatedly punching him. Malia got to her feet but Stefan got there before she could. He caught Tyler's wrist and held it to prevent him from continuing his attack.

"Hey, he's down! Enough!" Tyler punched him with his other hand, but it had no effect on Stefan. Matt started pushing Tyler away. Jeremy slashed at Tyler with a broken bottle, but cut Stefan across the palm instead.

"Jeremy, no!" Elena cried.

"Tyler, knock it off! Stop!" Matt managed to get Tyler away from the crowd. Malia went over to Jeremy, reaching him at the same time as Elena.

"Put your head up, you're bleeding."

"I'm fine!" He protested. Elena turned and rushed over to Stefan, even though Ava was already there.

"Your hand!"

"No, no, no, it's fine." He assured her.

"How about I take care of it?" Ava suggested. She started to pull Stefan away, but Elena grabbed his wrist.

"No, wait. Is it deep? How bad is it? Come on!" Elena uncurled his first and examined his palm. He was perfectly fine.

"But… I saw it, it was..."

"He missed. It's not my blood. See? I'm fine."

"No, no, no. I... I saw it. The glass cut your hand. It was..." Elena protested. Malia walked over to them, wiping blood off her split lip, courtesy of Tyler's misaimed punch, with the back of her hand.

"It's almost kick-off time." She gave Stefan a meaningful look and he nodded quickly, turning back to Elena.

"So, um, I'll, uh, I'll see you after the game." Stefan hurried away and Ava sprinted to keep up with him. Once they were out of earshot of Elena, they both stopped. Ava caught her breath, looked around to make sure no one was around and then spoke:

"So Zach's gonna be pissed. I mean, what would've happened if Elena found out too? That would be two Gilbert's in a very short time span. Not that I don't trust them or anything, but-."

"I don't want Elena to find out either." Stefan agreed, interrupting her. She started fiddling with her necklace.

"My family is so screwed up…" She whined.

"We're only distant related." He assured her. They fell silent as Matt walked over.

"Hey, you had Jeremy's back out there, thanks."

"He's a messed up kid." Stefan shrugged it off.

"I was a jerk at practice."

"You had your reasons."

"No excuse. I'm glad you on the team." Matt and Stefan shook hands and then Matt walked off again. There was applause from behind them and the two Salvatore's turned around. Damon was smirking at them.

"Isn't that nice? Stefan joins a team, makes a friend. It's all so, 'rah, rah, go team, yeah'!" He teased.

"Not tonight. I'm done with you." Stefan told him.

"Nice trick with Elena. Let me guess... Vervain in the necklace? I admit I was a bit surprised. It's been a while since anyone could resist my compulsion. Where'd you get it?"

"Does it matter?"

"Guess I could just seduce her the old-fashioned way. Or I could just... eat her." Damon had slowly gotten closer to them and now, he slung an arm around Ava's shoulders. She sucked in a sharp breath but fear kept her rooted to the spot.

"No. You're not gonna hurt her, Damon." Stefan reached over and shoved Damon's arm off Ava's shoulder. Ava ducked behind Stefan instead.

"No?" Damon asked, his smirk returning.

"Because deep down inside, there is a part of you that feels for her. I was worried that you had no humanity left inside of you… that you may have actually become the monster that you pretend to be."

"Who's pretending?" Damon asked, seemingly genuinely confused.

"Then kill me."

"Don't!" Ava yelped, finally finding her voice.

"Well, I'm... I'm tempted."

"No, you're not. You've had lifetimes to do it, and yet, here I am. I'm still alive. And there you are. You're still haunting me. After one hundred and forty five years. Katherine is dead. And you hate me because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do. And that, my brother, is your humanity."

"If that's my humanity... then what's this?" Damon darted forward and grabbed Ava by the throat, cutting off her airway. She struggled against him.

"Damon, don't!"

"Don't what? I killed her father, didn't I? Why not just end one branch of the family tree altogether?" His hand brushed the necklace and he jerked it back with a hiss of pain. Stefan grabbed Ava, pulling her away from him.

"Vervain in her necklace too? Okay, I'm impressed by you pretending to care about our fragile, human little niece." Damon admitted, shaking out his hand.

"Salvatore! What's going on here?" Coach Tanner walked over to them, angry and confused. Damon released Ava and grabbed the coach instead, biting into his neck. He dropped the dead body with a smile as Ava screamed.

"Anyone, anytime, any place…" He darted off, disappearing in a blur of speed.

"We need to go, now, go." Stefan pushed Ava towards the football field and they hurried off together.

* * *

Malia tossed her bloodstained t-shirt into her hamper and then readjusted the phone on her ear.

"How many 'animal attacks' is this town going to believe?" She asked, annoyed with everything that was going on.

" _Hopefully at least one more. Everyone's freaking out because the 'animal' came that close to the school._ " Ava replied.

"They should be."

" _I'm worried about everything too. I mean, what if Damon starts coming after the people we care about? Oh, that was mean. Coach Tanner had people that cared about him; he should be mourned too. But what if he comes after you?_ " Ava asked.

"Then I'll take a stake and shove it up his-."

" _He'd kill you_."

"If I managed to hurt him in the process, I'd die happy." Malia assured her.

" _Well, as long as we're planning on having long, happy, fruitful lives._ " Ava said sarcastically.

"The good die young, Ava."

" _Since when have you been described as 'good'?_ "

"You're hilarious. I gotta go. I think Jeremy and I are both going to get a lecture from Jenna."

" _She's lecturing now?_ "

"She's trying to, at least. Bye."

" _Bye_." Malia hung up and tossed her phone onto her desk carelessly. She walked down the stairs and headed for the next flight. Then she stopped and backed up, turning to glance into Elena's bedroom. A dark figure disappeared out of the open window as Elena stirred in her sleep. Malia frowned and continued on.


	7. The Founder's Dance

**A/N This is the full 'Family Ties' episode; I thought it was too short to be divided into two chapters so this is just one slightly longer-than-usual one.**

 **Enjoy and please review.**

* * *

Malia sat next to Jenna at the kitchen table, watching the news report on the TV in the living room.

"To repeat, the animal terrorizing Mystic Falls has been caught." _Yeah, right,_ Malia thought sarcastically.

"Scum ball. Scum bucket." Jenna was repeating under her breath.

"Who are you talking to?" Elena asked, walking into the room. Jenna nodded towards the TV.

"Him."

"The news guy?"

"Also known as Logan Scum Fell. Did your mom ever tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?"

"Oh, no way. You and him? He's cute." Elena mused.

"He is not cute. There's nothing cute about him. What are you doing with that?" Malia looked over to see Elena was carrying a box full of things.

"I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box. Mom had told Mrs. Lockwood she would loan it to the founder's council for their heritage display." The three girls started pawing through the artifacts.

"Is that Grandma Beth's wedding ring?"

"Originally it was great-great-grandma Mary's wedding ring." Elena was nothing if not sentimental; she knew the history behind all the objects. Jeremy strode into the room and peeked into the box.

"How much do you think this stuff is worth? You know, like on eBay?"

"You're not gonna find out." Elena told him sternly.

"That stuff is mom and dad's… You can't just give it away." Jeremy protested in a lower tone.

"I'm not giving it away. It's called a loan, Jeremy." The doorbell rang and Elena went to answer it. Jenna turned to turn off the TV, tired of hearing Logan Scum Fell talk. Jeremy swiped a pocket watch from the box and Malia recognized what it was. The siblings caught each others eyes and Malia deliberately turned around to talk to Jenna, letting Jeremy walk away.

* * *

Bonnie, Jess and Caroline walked into the Grill together. As usual, Jess was feeling more like a third wheel than anything else.

"You're taking Damon to the founder's party? What about me?" Bonnie was complaining.

"Go with Elena." Caroline suggested, shrugging the subject off.

"She's asking Stefan."

"Okay, go with Jess." Jess and Bonnie exchanged looks.

"Gee, thanks for assuming I _don't_ have a date."

"You don't." Caroline said simply. Jess rolled her eyes.

"That wasn't my point. What about mom? Is she okay with you bringing Damon?"

"And I'm supposed to care why?"

"He's older sexy danger guy." Jess complained.

"Damon's not dangerous. You know, he just has a lot of issues with his brother. You know, like major, deep-rooted drama."

"Like…?" Bonnie pressed as they sat down at an empty table.

"I'm not really supposed to say anything."

"Caroline Forbes, when have you ever kept a secret in your life?" Jess asked, laughing. Caroline smiled.

"Okay. But you can't tell Elena." Bonnie and Jess both smiled.

"No."

* * *

Ava walked into the living room of the Boarding House and stopped. Damon was flipping through things on the coffee table.

"What are you doing here?" She asked before she could think about it. She grimaced at her own inability to think before speaking. Damon turned and smiled at her.

"Just going through your and Stefan's homework. Boy, this country sure has dumbed down in the last hundred years."

"Yeah, well…" Ava trailed off. She couldn't think of a comeback.

"Why he wants to go to high school is beyond me. I mean, in the seventies, he went Ivy League. Harvard, I understood. Actually, no. I didn't get that either. But this is boring your little hyperactive mind. What were you saying?" Damon asked, pretending to be polite.

"Why are you really here, Damon? I mean, you're not here to look through our homework, so why? Because if Stefan finds out that you came here and messed with me or Zach then he'll go off on you." He took a step forward and she stepped back automatically.

"I'm shaking." He said sarcastically. Ava swallowed hard and folded her arms across her chest.

"Maybe I want to spend time with you! Family's important, after all." He added.

"Someone I doubt that. I remember what you did in nineteen-ninety-four! Well, no, I don't remember it like I was there but I remember what you did from being told what you did… The point is, you killed my dad and I know it! So what is your motive this time, Damon?"

"I could've killed you in the school parking lot, you know that." Damon pointed out.

"But you didn't!" She shot right back.

"I got distracted. Maybe you inherited your attention problems from me, who knows, you certainly got the Salvatore looks we had in my generation." Damon motioned at her carelessly. She chewed on her lip; her black hair and blue eyes did seem oddly like his looks.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Well, you are in no position to question me. The next time you get annoying, I'll snap your neck like a twig. I'm here because this is my house too."

"No, it's not." She protested.

"What did I say about being annoying?" Damon asked her, holding up a finger and shaking it front of her.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it: the only people you care about are yourself, Katherine and people who look like Katherine. Doppelgangers are your thing. Well, I'll have you know, I have a startling resemblance to this girl from Pretty Little Liars and-." Damon grabbed her by the throat, effectively shutting her up.

"I don't care about Elena."

"What's going on?" Stefan hurried into the room and took in the scene before him. Damon immediately released Ava, who stumbled back, gasping for breath.

"Having a family moment, Stefan. Spending some quality time." He walked out of the room and Stefan turned to Ava.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I'd be better if he left. Or died. Either one would be equally enjoyable for me!" She rubbed her throat.

"Why aren't you doing anything about Damon?" Zach walked into the room, looking severely angry, though angry seemed to be his default mood.

"I can't, Zach. I can't. It would take human blood. It's the only way that I could stop him, and I can't do that."

"Vervain could weaken him if he ingested it. It would help get you the upper hand." Zach mused.

"Vervain hasn't grown here since eighteen-sixty-five. Damon saw to that. The little I had, I gave to Elena and Ava."

"Follow me." Zach walked down into the cellar and Stefan started to follow. Ava grabbed his arm.

"Have you seen any horror movies? Cellar equals bad."

"Have you seen any horror movies?" He returned.

"Well… No. But I know what happens in almost every single one of them! There's only some many ways horror movies can go!" Stefan walked down into the cellar and Ava groaned before hurrying after him. Zach opened a thick, heavy door and the three of them looked inside the room. A box garden full of purple flowers was inside.

"You've been growing it."

"It's just something that's been passed down through the generations. Blood only runs so deep when you're related to vampires. I've had Ava ingesting it since she was two." Zach explained.

"You've been having me what?"

"Damon would kill me if he knew that I had it." He added, ignoring Ava.

"But you're telling me. Why?" Stefan asked.

"Because I trust you. And you're gonna need it if you want to get rid of him."

* * *

Caroline walked into Jess bedroom, twirling around to show off her blue dress. Jess stopped dabbing on lip gloss and looked at her.

"I thought that you were going to wear the yellow one. You bought it especially for tonight."

"Damon liked this one better. You want help with your hair?"

"Wait, Damon liked that one better… so you wore it?"

"Well, of course." Caroline didn't seem to have a problem with it. Jess gave her a weird look.

"He seems off to me."

"What do you mean? Here, your dress isn't zipped up all the way." Caroline fixed the zipper, completely uninterested in their conversation.

"I mean, he just seems a bit weird. And he creeps me out." Jess complained. Caroline laughed.

"You know, I always thought you were the smart one of the family. Damon is completely perfect."

"And that sounds even more wrong than the dress thing. Does mom know about him yet?" Caroline shot Jess a dirty look.

"I thought we agreed since the divorce that it was just us. Mom didn't get an opinion anymore?"

"That was a post-divorce, depressed agreement that I didn't think was serious. What has gotten into you lately?" Jess demanded.

"Nothing." Caroline shot back.

"I'm just concerned, that's all."

"Well, I'm the older sister. I can handle myself and you. Which is what I've had to do since mom zoned out on us. So stay out of it."

"The more I hear about you and Damon, the more I'm starting to hate this guy."

"Then you can stay away from both us." Caroline turned and stomped out of the room, leaving Jess staring after her.

* * *

Elena started to walk out of the house with Bonnie leading the way. Malia walked over to them, letting Bonnie get through the door but blocking Elena's path.

"The pocket watch." Malia held out a hand expectantly. She was dressed to impress; Jenna had insisted she go to this party, apparently. A black lace dress and black leather knee-high boots… she looked like she was going to a funeral. It was a look that Elena was getting used to with her.

"I promised Mrs. Lockwood…" Elena was turning the whole thing over his her mind; the first-born son was always supposed to get the pocket watch, even if the father wasn't there to give it to him.

"So say you lost it." Malia suggested. That was the push that Elena apparently needed. She put the watch into Malia's open hand.

"I have to run, give it to Jeremy for me?"

"Of course." Elena hurried out the door to catch up with Bonnie. Malia headed up the stairs. Per usual, Jeremy was playing a video game with headphones on, completely zoned out on the world around him. Malia put the pocket watch on the desk next to him and walked away.

* * *

Between Malia, Jess and Ava, it was Jess who was the history buff. Of course, Jess was the type of girl to excel at everything and history was no exception. Elena read the original guest registry from the first founder's council celebration out loud and Jess soaked in every word.

"The founding families in Mystic Falls welcome you to the inaugural founder's council celebration… Look at all these familiar names. Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood. Is that Damon Salvatore? And, Stefan Salvatore?"

"The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually." Malia glared at Damon as he entered the room with Caroline on his arm. Stefan gave him an equally angry look. No one noticed Ava backing away, rubbing her throat as if she was still in pain.

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past." Stefan protested.

"It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family." Elena told him. Malia rolled her eyes; Elena couldn't take a hint if it bit her in the neck.

"Well, I'm bored. I want to dance. And Damon won't dance with me." Caroline complained. Damon nodded in agreement.

"Could I just borrow your date?" She motioned towards Stefan.

"Oh, uh..."

"I don't really dance."

"Oh, sure he does. You should see him. Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all." Damon told them, smiling.

"You wouldn't mind, would you, Elena?" Caroline added.

"It's up to Stefan."

"Well sorry, but I'm not going to take no for an answer." Caroline took Stefan and practically dragged him out of the room. Ava took one look at Damon, who was clearly intent to stay there, and hurried out of the room. Jess and Elena looked at her in confusion, though Malia just continued to glare at Damon.

"Yeah, I'm afraid that she's gotten dragged into the family fighting… Elena, I want to apologize to you for being such a world-class jerk the other night when I tried to kiss you. There's no excuse. My therapist says I'm... Acting out, trying to punish Stefan."

"For what?" Elena asked.

"It's all in the past. I don't even want to bring it up."

"Obviously you do or you wouldn't have said it in the first place." Malia told him. Damon and Malia exchanged hate-filled looks.

"Let's just say that the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry. And it all started with the original Salvatore brothers." Damon continued, motioning towards the original guest registry hanging on the wall behind them.

"The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town. Until the war. There was a battle here-."

"The battle of willow creek." Jess put in, shifting her weight to her other foot uncomfortably.

"Right. Caroline said you were a good student." Damon gave her a smile which only made her more uncomfortable. She continued anyway:

"Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside."

"What the history books left out was the people that were killed. They weren't there by accident. They were believed to be union sympathizers. So some of the founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive. Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in that church. And when they went to rescue them, they were shot. Murdered in cold blood." Damon explained.

"Who was in the church that they wanted to save?" Elena asked.

"A woman, I guess. Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?" That was a step too far in a direction Elena didn't want to take.

"Look, I'm sorry that you and Stefan have this thing between you, but I can't get in the middle of it, Damon. I just... I hope you two can work it out."

"I hope so, too."

"Look at this." Jess interrupted, nudging Elena's shoulder. Elena looked over at her phone, where she had pulled up a map.

"Since eighteen-sixty-four, the whole town… _migrated_ , I guess you could say. Fell's Church was originally there-." Jess pointed at a part of the map and Damon came to look over her shoulder to see it. "-and now that's just the middle of the forest. The town kind of moved to the side."

"I didn't know that." Elena admitted.

"This trip down memory lane has been fun, but what do you say we go get something to eat, huh?" Malia suggested. Damon smirked at her.

"Sounds great."

"I was talking to the girls and, as feminine as you can be sometimes, you're not a girl." Malia took a shocked Elena by the arm and pulled her out of the room with Jess following. Damon caught up to them in under a minute. Jess went over to her mother, a detail none of them missed, and Damon subtly steered Elena and Malia over to Stefan and Caroline.

"What'd we miss?" Damon asked cheerfully.

"We were just chatting. Drink, Damon?" Stefan offered him a glass of champagne.

"No, thanks, I'll pass."

"Stefan, do you have another dance in you?" Elena asked.

"Absolutely." Stefan took Elena out to the dance floor.

"Malia, you're walking a fine line." Damon warned under his breath. She shot him a look that should've killed him.

"Go stake yourself."

* * *

After another half hour at the party, Ava was more than ready to go home. She looked at Stefan.

"How much longer?"

"We just have to wait until Damon falls into our trap." He assured her quietly. Ava fiddled with her necklace.

"Since when are we planting traps? I'm not Buffy the Vampire Slayer! Of course, if I was, I would be falling in love with the vampire, so I guess that's not a good example." She mused. Stefan smiled as she continued her monologue about teenage girls always falling for vampires, even citing Elena and Stefan as her prime example, but she stopped abruptly when Elena came back over to them. To ensure she would keep quiet, Ava took Stefan's glass of champagne from him and took a large drink.

"I'm sorry. I take it all back. You're completely right about Damon."

"What did he do?" Stefan asked, alarmed.

"There are bruises all over Caroline's body. Bite marks, and he has her all confused and messed up in the head. You don't look surprised." Elena glanced between the two Salvatore's, judging their reaction.

"Um, I'm handling it." Stefan offered up a short explanation that didn't really explain anything. Ava started chugging champagne again to keep herself quiet.

"Handling it? Stefan, you should be having him arrested."

"Elena, please. I... I don't expect you to understand."

"I don't understand anything, Stefan. So why don't you just clear it up for me?"

"Look, there are things that you don't know, okay? Things that I want to tell you, but I can't. And I may never be able to. And I just need you to trust me." Ava looked like she wanted to be anywhere else. She looked around uncomfortably and spotted Damon take Caroline out into the yard. She jabbed her elbow into Stefan's side.

"Trust is earned. I can't just magically hand it over." Elena protested.

"I'm so sorry, I have to go." The two Salvatore's hurried off, leaving Elena in complete confusion.

* * *

Ava watched as Stefan and Zach locked Damon in the cellar.

"Deadly beast captured, all is well in Mystic Falls." Ava repeated the headline from earlier. Stefan nodded in agreement.


	8. The Good Die Young

**A/N Like the last chapter, this is the full 'You're Undead To Me' episode.**

 **Please read and review!**

* * *

Malia pushed open the door to the bathroom and then stopped. Vicki spit out water and toothpaste into the sink and then looked up.

"Oh. Hey. I'll be out in a minute."

"Okay…" Malia shut the door again. Elena walked over to her.

"What's the matter?"

"Vicki." Malia whispered the name and pointed to the bathroom door. Elena's eyes widened.

"She and Jeremy are…"

"Yeah."

"Oh my-."

"Protect your prescriptions. We now have two drug users in the house." Malia told her, none too happy about it, before heading downstairs.

* * *

Ava was amazed at how much more relaxed she was just with the knowledge of Damon being locked up in the cellar, unable to hurt anyone. She bounded down the stairs and was halfway out the door before she stopped and turned around. Stefan was talking to Zach, his backpack slung over his shoulder.

"He's awake. He's weak, but it's probably best to stay out of the basement. He's Damon. I'm not sure how dangerous he still might be." Stefan was saying.

"You're going to school?" Ava asked.

"Came here to live a life. It's about time I get back to that. And Elena, if she's still speaking to me."

"Why haven't you called her?" Ava challenged.

"What am I supposed to do, feed her another lie? I hate lying to her and I'm not good at it. She already thinks I'm hiding something." He explained.

"What choice do you have? You came here because you wanted to live as normal a life as you could. You knew this was going to be a part of it." Zach reminded him. Stefan nodded.

"If you are going, then we should get to school." Ava put in. They walked out to the driveway and Ava tossed him the keys.

"I'm glad you're going, I hate driving."

"You hate driving?" Stefan echoed, climbing into the front seat.

"I spent ten minutes yesterday waiting for a turtle to cross the road." Stefan looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Turns out it was a rock."

* * *

Jess sat next to Caroline during lunch, watching her carefully. Finally, Caroline sighed and put down her fork.

"I'm fine, alright?"

"I beg to differ." Jess protested. Caroline sighed again.

"I'm over Damon." She assured her younger sister.

"Please refer to previous comment." Caroline laughed and gave Jess's shoulder a playful shove.

"I'm getting better." She promised.

"Good. So about this car wash thing-."

"Yes, you're going." Caroline interrupted before Jess could get any farther. Jess rolled her eyes.

"What if I don't want to go?"

"You're adorable when you think you have a choice in the matter." Caroline tugged on Jess's hair and Jess squirmed away.

"Since when are you in charge?"

"Since I was ten months old and I was graced with a sister."

"Ten months doesn't make you in charge." Jess protested.

"Oh, yes, it does. If I wasn't destined to be in charge, we would've been twins instead."

"I'm glad you're getting back to normal."

"Me too."

* * *

Ava shut her textbook with a thump and pulled out her ear-buds, listening. Dead silence. Suspiciously dead silence, even if Stefan was still gone on a date with Elena. Ava got off her bed and walked out into the hallway.

"Zach?" No answer. Picking up the pace, she headed downstairs. The cellar door was open. Ava ran downstairs. Damon had Zach by the throat, through the bars of the cell door.

"Unlock it. Unlock the door, Zach." Ava managed to wrestle Zach out of Damon's grip, relieved he was weak enough for her to do so. Stefan came downstairs.

"What happened?"

"Zach had one job and couldn't do it." Ava suggested dryly, shooting her uncle a look. Stefan walked over to the cell door.

"Keep it up, Damon. The more energy you expend, the faster you'll go." Ava and Zach walked upstairs.

"Nice going, Uncle Zach. What would've happened if Damon had killed you? I'm under eighteen; I wouldn't have a legal guardian. And yes, I realize that was tactless!" Ava told him.

"Damon's finally unable to harm anyone; I was enjoying it."

"Still enjoying it?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest. Stefan walked over to them.

"How long are we going to keep Damon in the cellar?" Ava asked him.

"Until he desiccates; then we'll move him to the family tomb and let him sit there for a few decades." He explained.

"We'll… We'll… That's a funny way of saying 'you'." Ava told him, smiling slightly. Stefan rolled his eyes.

"I'll take care of it."

"That's what I thought. How'd your date with Elena go?"

"It didn't. She's not exactly happy with me." He explained.

"Well, try again. Be romantic. I know that all Gilbert's are suckers for people who are passionate. Now, go, out." Ava turned Stefan around and pushed him out the front door again. After he was gone, she turned back to Zach.

"Ah, Uncles… They grow up so fast."

* * *

Caroline stood in front of Elena, lecturing her like she had invented the idea of lecturing people.

"No friend discounts. No freebies. No pay ya later's. We are not running a charity here. No, we are not."

"No we are not." Elena repeated. Stefan walked over to her and Caroline walked over to Jess instead. Jess was standing at a table, organizing towels by color.

"This event is called 'sexy suds', you know." Caroline said. Jess turned to her sister.

"Did you just scold me?"

"And judged you. I can multitask." Jess sighed and took off her long t-shirt to reveal the bikini beneath it.

"That's my girl. Stop organizing; that's my job. Shoo." Caroline waved her sister towards the cars that were lining up in the parking lot.

* * *

The day passed by quickly; cars came and went, as did people. Caroline and Elena disappeared from the parking lot. One of Caroline's cheerleader friends, Tiki, handed Bonnie a broom.

"Sweeper duty."

"What?" Bonnie demanded.

"We have to clean the pavement." Tiki explained. Jess and Stefan looked up from the car they were washing together to watch the two girls.

"It's a car wash. By definition, the pavement's clean." Bonnie protested.

"But not dry."

"And I'm doing this why?"

"Caroline bailed, so that leaves me in charge. Fabulous." Tiki told her with a smug smile. Jess raised a hand, as if they were in class.

"I'm sorry, how does that make you in charge?"

"Because you're a groupie that follows her big sister around like a lost puppy, not someone who actually helped organize this fund raiser. Understood? Keep washing." Tiki walked away and Jess glared at her back.

"I'm calling Caroline to see where she is anyway. I'll be right back." Jess tossed her sponge back into the bucket by her feet and walked away. Suddenly, flames erupted from Tiki's car. Stefan ran over to Bonnie, grabbing her by the shoulders and giving her a sharp shake.

"Bonnie! Bonnie! Bonnie! Hey." Bonnie snapped out of it and the flames died down

"What just happened?"

"You were in some kind of a trance."

"Did I do this?"

"I think so, yeah."

"Nobody else saw, did they? Don't tell anybody. Please." Stefan's phone rang and he took it out of his pocket. Ava was calling. He looked back at Bonnie.

"I won't tell anyone." He assured her. He walked away and answered the phone.

"Ava-."

" _Damon's gone._ " Ava sobbed into the phone.

"What? What happened? Where are you?" Stefan demanded.

" _Caroline… Caroline let him out… He… He must've still had control over her… Zach's dead. I can't call the police. I don't know what to do. Stefan, I don't know where Damon is and he's pissed at me and you know it… Stefan, please get home… I don't know what to do_." She sobbed.

"Where are you? Are you still at the boarding house?"

" _Yeah… yeah… I'm here_."

"Stay there. I'll be right there, okay?"

* * *

Stefan raced into the house and down into the cellar. Ava was sitting on the bottom step, still crying. Zach's body was at her feet. Stefan ran over and put his hand on her shoulder. She screamed and jumped.

"It's me, it's me." He pulled her into a hug.

"Damon's gone…" She whispered.

"I know. I'll find him…"

* * *

Jeremy pushed the attic door open and looked inside. Malia was asleep on her bed; the moonlight streaming through the window as the only source of light in the room. Jeremy slipped the bottle of Benzodiazepines into her bag again.

"Are you stealing my pills?" Jeremy jumped and turned towards her as she raised her head tiredly.

"I'm putting them back. Vicki swiped them earlier, tried to pass them out to the rest of her stoner friends." He explained. Malia sat up.

"Where is she?"

"Not here."

"Not what I asked." Malia kicked the covers off her and stood up.

"She's in the cemetery, on the east outskirts, but Malia, you can't go there." Jeremy protested. Malia grabbed her jacket and slipped it on over the tank top that she wore to bed.

"Why can't I?"

"Because-."

"That's a trick question, Jeremy. There's no reason I can't go give her a piece of my mind." Malia shoved her feet into her high-tops and grabbed her bag. She dug out her pill bottles and tossed them onto her bed instead, slipping the strap of the bag onto her shoulder.

"Would you stop being confrontational all the time?" He demanded, following her down the stairs.

"Sorry, it's engrained in my personality. Stay here." Malia slammed the front door behind her, preventing Jeremy from following her.

* * *

Malia walked over to Vicki and her friends, lounging on the outskirts of the cemetery. Vicki spotted her and got to her feet.

"You stole my Benzodiazepines? Seriously, Vicki?" Malia demanded.

"Well, obviously your brother gave them back. Are you here just to chew me out about that?" Vicki asked.

"No, I'm here to tell you to stay away from my family, especially from Jeremy. He's fighting with Tyler _because of you_ and he's hanging out with stoners _because of you_. Stay away from him, got it?"

"You are not telling me what to do."

"Really? I think I just did." Malia turned to walk away and Vicki grabbed her arm, spinning her back around. As she was turned, Malia swung. Vicki received a punch to the face and went down.

"Don't ever touch me again, Vicki." Malia warned. Vicki got up and tried to shove Malia back. Malia caught her arms and shoved her instead. The people around them started cheering.

"What did I just say?" Malia asked, brushing a strand of dark blonde hair out of her eyes. Vicki glared at her. Someone stumbled into the clearing, leaning heavily against a tree.

"Man, you don't look so hot." One of them said. Malia backed away from Damon.

"What are you doing here?" She growled.

"I'm…hungry…" Damon leapt on Malia and bit into her neck. She let out a scream that she knew no one outside the clearing would hear…


	9. Evil Never Grows Old

**A/N Part one of 'Lost Girls'.**

* * *

Malia blinked as she woke up. It was still dark, but she had to wonder how long she'd been out. She turned her head and pain seared in her neck. Bodies were burning a few feet away. She turned her head away, trying to ignore the heart, the sight and the smell all at the same time. She heard Damon's voice.

"I want my ring." There was a pause as he listened to Stefan on the phone.

"I'm at the sizzler. I had the buffet. Where's my ring? No, what have you done? You're the one that locked me in the basement and starved me, so whatever I've done, whoever I've sucked dry is on you, buddy. Try explaining to Elena why she's never going to see her sister again." There was a much longer pause.

"Don't give me another reason to rip you apart. Just get it." Damon hung up. He went over to Malia and she closed her eyes, trying to slow her breathing. Damon kneeled down beside her and splashed alcohol on her face. She sputtered and coughed, her eyes popping open to glare at Damon.

"You just don't want to die, do you?" He asked, examining her. She tried to sit up, but she fell back against the dirt again. Blood soaked through her shirt, making it stick to her skin. It felt like her head was about to fall over her shoulders.

"Sit, stay, good girl." Damon got up and walked away. Malia forced herself to roll over onto her stomach. Her bag was a foot away; her cell phone was so close. She crawled forward, slowly.

"What did I just say?" Damon kicked her bag away and grabbed her by the arm, hauling her to her feet. She started to fall and he caught her.

"Well, Gilbert Barbie, I guess you and Donovan are coming with me. I thought I'd sucked both of you dry… Might as well have fun with you." He swung Malia over his shoulder and, grabbing Vicki and dragging her along behind him, made his way back towards the Boarding House.

* * *

Elena and Stefan walked into the Gilbert house and Elena turned to shut the door behind her.

"You've been hiding something from me all day, so I want you-."

"Elena." Elena stopped and followed Stefan's eyes to the living room, where Jenna and Jeremy were sitting with Sheriff Forbes.

"What's going on?" Elena asked, walking over to them. Jenna stood up and spoke before Sheriff Forbes could, wiping at her eyes.

"Something happened at the cemetery last night. Bodies were burned and… they think Malia might've been one of them. They found her bag, her I.D, her phone..." Jenna trailed off, getting too choked up to continue.

"The bodies are too damaged… most of them are just ashes… We can't confirm her death as of yet, but I wanted you to be prepared for the possibility." Sheriff Forbes explained.

"No… No… Malia's not dead." Elena protested, already in tears. Jeremy got up and, in a spit second, was up the stairs. They heard his bedroom door slam behind him.

"Who… who else you do… do you think was there?" Elena asked, trying to keep a clear head about it all.

"We found the I.D of Vicki Donovan."

"She wouldn't hang out with Vicki!" Elena protested.

"Jeremy said she left to go find Vicki last night. Jeremy told Malia where Vicki was. Apparently there was something involving Vicki taking some of Malia's pills. I think I'll come back later and get the full story. I'm sorry." Sheriff Forbes left the house, shutting the door behind her. Jenna pulled Elena into a long hug but then went upstairs after Jeremy. Stefan went to hug Elena.

"Malia… Malia's dead."

"You don't know that." Stefan tried to assure her. He knew Damon played games; it was entirely possible that Malia was still alive to amuse Damon. He had too many teenager girls to worry about at the moment. Elena was danger and Malia might be dead or be with Damon, which was an equally horrifying possibility. He'd managed to pass Ava off to Bonnie and her grandmother. Bonnie hadn't known what was going on, but Sheila had been quick to take Ava into the house and assure Stefan that no other Salvatore was coming inside. When in doubt, Stefan had learned to trust the Bennett witches. Caroline might still be under Damon's compulsion to boot.

"You knew all day today." Elena sobbed into his shoulder.

"I didn't know for sure. Damon plays games. He uses humans as amusement. Malia could still be alive."

* * *

Damon paced in the living room of the Salvatore Boarding House, leaving a message on Stefan's phone.

"Where are you, Stefan? I'm trapped at the house and I'm getting really bored and really impatient, and I don't do bored and impatient. Bring me my ring." He cussed for good measure and then tossed the phone aside.

"Aw, don't get blood on the couch." He moaned, going over to Vicki to try and stop the bleeding. He turned to Malia, who was barely conscious on the other couch. Striding over and leaning down, he examined her wound, though she struggled feebly to get him away from her.

"I got you good, didn't I?" He asked with a small smile. Malia glared at him. He looked around the otherwise empty house. His niece was gone and he'd killed his nephew, so there was no one else to torment for the day. Damon turned to the two girls on opposite couches, both suffering equally.

"Well, you girls are not gonna be any fun today. I'm so gonna regret this." Damon went over to Malia and bit into his wrist, putting it to her mouth. She struggled for longer than he'd originally thought she would but then gave in.

"Good girl." He amended.

* * *

Elena walked over to Jeremy in his bedroom. Jenna had retreated to her own bedroom; she had to deliver the news to family member she hated: John Gilbert.

"Jeremy, there's still a chance that Malia's alive-."

"Then why isn't she here? Where else would she go?" Jeremy demanded. Elena sat beside him on the bed.

"This isn't your fault." She was no Malia when it came to knowing Jeremy, but she could tell he was blaming himself.

"I shouldn't have told her about Vicki… I shouldn't have said anything… And then I let her go. I let her go out there."

"You're talking about Malia, Jeremy. You couldn't have stopped her if she really wanted to go." Elena protested.

"I should've tried… She's dead because of me."

"No, she's not, she's not dead and it's not your fault." Elena tried to convince him, but Jeremy was having nothing of it. Eventually, she just left the room. Stefan was waiting for her in the living room.

"Tell me more about you and Damon being vampires. I need to think about something else…"

* * *

Malia watched Vicki and Damon danced to loud, obnoxious music.

"Jeremy, huh? Malia's baby brother?" Damon had gotten her talking about her multiple love interests, a talk that Malia would rather die than hear.

"Yeah, yeah. So, Elena used to date my brother, and they were always together, so Jeremy would always be hanging around and crushing on me and… Hey, why don't you have a girlfriend? You're, like, totally cool and so hot."

"I know."

"Don't you wanna be in love?"

"I've been in love. It's painful and pointless and overrated." Malia got up from the couch and crept towards the door; Damon was distracted enough now.

"Except when it isn't." Vicki protested.

"No more talking. Let's dance." Malia hoped the music was enough to cover up the sounds of her desperate escape. She unlocked the door and was just easing it open when a hand slammed it shut again. She turned to Damon.

"You can't keep me here forever."

"Oh, I know I can't." He agreed with a cruel smile.

"Then work with me here. Get those gears in your little head turning. You have to let me go at some point." Malia told him. He seemed to think about it.

"You have a valid point, Gilbert." Then he reached up and snapped her neck.

* * *

Malia woke up with a shooting pain in her neck. She blinked and looked around. Damon had dumped her in what had to be Stefan's room. She rolled herself off the bed and started to make her way downstairs.

"You're dead." Malia whirled around to face Damon as he spoke. They stood on the landing, halfway down the stairs, and way too close for comfort.

"I beg to differ. I feel very much alive, no thanks to you." Malia told him. She turned and rushed down the stairs. Damon followed at a slow, calm pace.

"Let's review, shall we? You drank my blood, I killed you and now you have to feed in order to complete the process."

"You're a complete psychopath."

"But I'm not a liar." He pointed out. Malia got to the door and opened it. The sunlight blinded her and she slammed the door shut again.

"You're gonna start craving blood, and until you get it, you're gonna feel very out of it. You have to be careful."

"You don't care about me?"

"Ah, another valid point from the only intelligent Gilbert in Mystic Falls… I'm just warning you, Malia. By the way, Vicki already left?"

"Oh, so she got to leave unharmed?" Malia tried to keep the fear out of her voice. Either she succeeded or Damon just didn't care how freaked out she was. The latter was more likely.

"She was more fun to hang out with. I got bored with her too, though." Damon said airily, brushing the subject off.

"Well, I'm sorry you're bored, Damon." Malia said sarcastically.

"I'm sure Vicki is too. I killed her when I got bored with her."

"You… She's turning too?" Malia asked.

"And she's on her way to Jeremy's house, bloodlust and all. Have fun with that. Here." Damon offered her a pair of sunglasses and she snatched them from his hands. Yanking the door open and quickly putting the sunglasses on, she escaped from the house. She was always an athletic person; Jess was the smart one, Ava was the nice one and she was the athletic one. Now, she felt different. It was easier for her to break into a dead sprint and not stop until she was in town. And that scared her more than anything else. She jogged up to her house. Her senses were going haywire; she could hear what was going on inside.

"Malia was there last night and now everyone's saying she's dead! What happened after I left last night, Vicki?" Jeremy was practically yelling. Malia heard a thump and she raced into the house. Vicki had shoved Jeremy hard enough that he hit the couch and the couch moved back. Malia shoved Vicki up against a wall, pinning her against it.

"Jer, are you okay?" Matt asked.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." Jeremy shook his head and then saw Malia.

"You're-."

"Alive, sort-of. Pissed off. Freaked out. And did I mention pissed off?" Malia released Vicki, but kept herself in between her and Jeremy.

"What happed last night?" Jeremy started to walk over to Malia and she backed away, holding up a hand.

"Stay away from me right now, Jeremy." She warned. Elena and Stefan walked into the house.

"What's going on? Malia!" Elena ran over and Malia immediately took a step back from her as well.

"She's really messed up." Matt said and no one asked if he was talking about Vicki or Malia; 'both' was a good probability. Stefan took one look at Vicki and took charge of the situation.

"Elena, back up. Vicki, look at me. Focus. You're going to be fine. Everything's going to be fine. Guys, take her up to bed, shut the blinds. She's going to be okay." Jeremy and Matt took Vicki upstairs. Stefan turned to Malia and received a slap across the face. Elena gasped.

"Great job controlling your brother, Stefan!" She growled.

"You know?" Elena asked hesitantly.

"About vampires, yeah, I-." Malia stopped abruptly, realizing what she'd just said. Stefan stared at her too as Elena looked between them. Malia was the first to speak again.

"The compulsion's wearing off. You know what that means." She told Stefan coldly.

"What is going on?" Elena demanded.

"They're transitioning."

"Transitioning to what?"

"Unicorns. What do you think, Elena?" Malia snapped.

"They're transitioning into vampires. Neither one have completed their transitions yet." Stefan explained.

"How do they do that?" Elena asked.

"We feed on human blood and become monsters. It's a whole ordeal." Malia told her, ripping off her sunglasses and starting to pace.

"And what if you don't?"

"Damon wasn't clear on that part."

"She'll die." Stefan told them. Malia threw the sunglasses against the wall and the glass lenses shattered.

"Thanks for the sugarcoating, Stefan! This is your fault! Your brother did this!" Malia was struggling not to yell and starting to fail. Vicki ran out the front door and Jeremy and Matt rushed after her, pausing in the doorway.

"I'm gonna go look for her. Call me if you hear anything." Matt ran out. Stefan turned to Elena.

"I can track her."

"Go." Elena agreed, nodding. Malia caught his arm as he started to leave.

"I'm going with you." He nodded so she followed him out the door.


	10. The Choice

**A/N I haven't updated in a while but I'm working on this story again.**

 **This is the final part of Lost Girls. Enjoy!**

* * *

Stefan led Malia through the cemetery. The sun had set and Malia was more than a little annoyed that they were still searching for Vicki.

"Why did you want to come?" Stefan asked her suddenly.

"To help you find Vicki, obviously." She shot back quickly. He glanced at her, knowing that wasn't it. She caught his look and stopped walking. He stopped as well, turning back to face her.

"If she hurts anyone, I want to be there to stop her. She's ruined my life enough as it is. I don't want her ruining anyone else's." Stefan looked past Malia and caught sight of someone.

"Vicki." Malia whirled around to look at her.

"I'm starting to remember things, what he is, what he said. I remember you. The hospital, the… the rooftop, it's all coming back." She moaned.

"I'm so sorry. Damon had no right to do this to you." Stefan took the comforting approach while Malia watched Vicki wearily.

"He said that I need to feed. What will happen if I don't?" 

"You'll fade quickly... And then it'll all just be over." Stefan assured her. Vicki started sobbing.

"I'll be dead."

"Hey." Stefan told her; as if 'hey' was the most comforting thing he could come up with. Malia turned around, facing the tree line. Had she just heard something? She glanced at Stefan. He was too focused on Vicki to hear anything else. Malia crept forward, scanning the dark cemetery with her eyes, trying to catch sight of anyone, or anything, that might be near them. Movement caught her eye, too slow to be an animal, too fast to be anything but a threat. Malia ran forward, taking chase.

"Malia!" She heard Stefan calling after her. _Way to go with the subtlety,_ she thought sarcastically, jumping over a log and picking up the pace. More movement, behind her and to her left. She stopped, slipping on the leaf-covered grass, and ran back towards it. She collided with a person and they both went to the ground. Malia looked at the person in confusion.

"Logan Fell?" And then there was a gun pointed at her head. She grabbed his wrist and forced it to the side so that it wasn't pointed at her anymore, struggling to pin him down with her other hand. He threw her off him and she rolled over onto her back. He jumped up and she kicked out instinctively, catching him in the knee. He dropped the gun as he went down, reaching instead for a wooden stake. _He thinks I'm a vampire_ , she realized. Being in transition wasn't the same as being a vampire, but she doubted he'd sit down over coffee and let her explain that. He drew back his arm to stake her and she caught his wrist as he brought it down towards her chest. She punched him in the face with her free hand, hard. Once. Twice. A third time. The third was did it; he rolled over onto his back with a groan of pain. She tossed the stake aside. _Where was the gun?_ It was too dark to tell; seeing that it was Logan Fell was hard enough as it was. Her knuckles were stinging and her head was swimming, but she knew what to do to keep herself alive. She scrambled to her feet and ran back towards where Stefan and Vicki were.

"Stefan!" She nearly collided with him as they met up and he looked at her, alarmed. Vicki cast a tearful glance around, wondering what had happened.

"Logan Fell. With a stake." She explained it shortly, trying to catch her breath. Gunshots rang out. Malia hit the deck instinctively, scrambling for cover behind a tree. Stefan was on the ground. Even in the dark, she could see the blood on his chest. Vicki let out a scream and ran for cover as well. Malia stared down at her fist, covered in blood from punching out Logan. She turned and looked at Logan's approaching figure. Grinding her teeth together, she made the choice.

* * *

Damon darted into the cemetery and ran over to Stefan. He pulled the bullet out of Stefan's chest.

"It's wood. They know." Damon groaned, throwing the bullet aside. Stefan looked up at him and Damon smirked.

"If anyone's gonna kill you, it's gonna be me. My ring."

"Logan-." Stefan started, sitting up. He and Damon both turned around. Logan had been shot in the chest by one of his own bullets, long before Damon had even gotten there. Malia threw down the gun and turned to the Salvatore brothers, veins under her eyes and fangs extended. Damon looked away, seemingly mentally kicking himself. Now he had _Vampire_ Gilbert Barbie to deal with.

"Problem solved." She growled at Stefan, turning to hide her face. Her shoulders heaved as she forced herself to take deep breaths. When she turned back to them, her face was normal. She lunged at Damon. Stefan intercepted, holding her back.

"This is your fault!" She yelled. Damon held up his hands, as if in surrender, though she knew that was something he would never do.

"I admit, I was a bit bored."

" _Bored?!_ You killed me! I'm a vampire!"

"Speaking of which… Donovan." Damon pointed behind them. Stefan and Malia turned around. Vicki was getting up from leaning over Logan, wiping blood away from her mouth.

"I'm sorry." She darted away, disappearing in a blur of speed. Damon grimaced.

"Oops."

* * *

Elena was waiting on the porch when Stefan and Malia arrived back at the Gilbert house. She stopped pacing and hurried over to them, meeting them on the steps.

"You're bleeding." She looked between Stefan and Malia, waiting for an explanation. Stefan's wounds had already healed, but he was going to need a new shirt.

"No, it's okay. I'm okay." He assured her.

"That makes one of us." Malia snapped at him. Elena looked at her, confused and concerned. Malia just turned away, facing the street instead of her sister. Elena looked to Stefan instead.

"She fed. So did Vicki. I… I lost Vicki."

"Oh my gosh…" Elena looked at Malia, as if deciding if she looked different, if she looked like a monster now. Malia was very much aware of how her twin was staring at her; she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the memories of the past few weeks, and tried to ignore Elena.

"I'll take care of it. I'll find her, and I will show her that she can live like I do. I will make sure that she does not hurt anybody, Elena. I promise you." Stefan was quick to reassure her.

"What do I tell Jeremy? And Jenna? Matt?"

"We'll come up with a story."

"You mean we'll come up with a lie."

"I'm so sorry."

"I gave you today just like you asked. And I understand that you would never do anything to hurt me, and I promise I will keep your secret, but... I can't be with you, Stefan. I'm sorry. I… I just can't..." Stefan opened his mouth to say something but Elena cut him off.

"Malia, let's go inside. I'll invite you-."

"I'm not going inside, Elena." Malia told her, turning around.

"Why not? Jeremy is worried and-."

"What do you want me to say to him? Guess what, I'm a vampire now? Don't worry, I'll try not to kill you? I'm not going home." Malia stepped off the porch, trying to put more distance between her and her own home.

"Where will you go?"

"I don't know." She admitted.

"She can stay with me. I'll make sure she learns control." Stefan said quickly.

"And Damon?" Elena asked, shooting Stefan a look.

"I can give Damon a run for his money now, sis. I'll be okay. Eventually. Tell Jeremy I'm staying with Ava for a while, alright? That's not a lie." Malia told her, backing away even more. Stefan walked off the porch and the two vampires darted away, leaving Elena alone on the porch.

* * *

Malia walked wearily into the Salvatore Boarding House. Stefan shut the door behind her with a click that was too loud for her new vampire senses. She heard someone running downstairs and turned around. Ava didn't stop at the bottom step; she hurled herself right into Malia for a hug. Malia could hear her heartbeat, see the veins in her neck, and pushed her back immediately. Ava chewed her lip.

"I'm sorry; I know that you're a vampire now and humans and blood and everything… Stefan called me. But it's okay. I know you won't hurt me and we can share a room and be okay and everything will go back to normal. Well, not normal, I guess, but as close as humanly possible. I did not just say 'humanly possible'. Oh my gosh." Ava turned and banged her head against the wall.

"Sharing a room isn't a good idea." Malia told her.

"Oh. Well… We'll still be in the same house." Ava tried to look on the bright side, as always.

"Let's go get you settled." Stefan suggested. He led her from the room.


	11. Creatures of the Night

**A/N This is part one of 'Haunted'.**

* * *

Malia glanced around her new bedroom in the Salvatore Boarding House. It was comfortable enough, just not home. She went over to the window, which were adorned with thick curtains. She started to pull one of the curtains aside but let it fall back into place with the sun burned her hand. She shook out her hand, which was already healing, and bit back a groan of pain. On the desk behind her, her phone vibrated with an incoming call. She darted over, her speed sending the homework pages she'd left beside her phone flying, and checked the screen. Jeremy. Of course it was Jeremy. She had received frantic calls and texts from Jenna all night. Now it was Jeremy's turn to make her hate herself.

"I don't understand why I have to stay cooped up here. Why can't I just go home?" Vicki's voice drifted down from the attic above her. Malia looked up at the ceiling. She could hear so well that she could tell exactly how Stefan was pacing, how Vicki was spinning around and around in Stefan's desk chair.

"Because you're changing, Vicki, and it's not something you wanna do alone." Stefan told her calmly. His attention was on Vicki; Malia had proven that she had no wish to leave until she could control herself and that was good enough for him. Ava was at school and with no humans in the house, Stefan's stress level went down somewhat. But Malia was still under the impression that he brooded, stressed and worried far more than what was healthy. _Could a vampire have a stroke?_ She wondered to herself.

"There's nothing about that Logan guy I killed in here. Not a word. Someone's covering it up." Malia jumped; she was so focused on listening in on Stefan and Vicki that she'd forgotten about the person she should've been worried about. Damon smirked at her surprise, waved the newspaper in her face for emphasis and then dropped it down on her desk with a thump.

"Are you worried someone is onto you?"

"If someone is onto _me,_ then they'll soon be onto _you,_ Gilbert Barbie. We should both be worried." Damon told her.

"I'm nothing like-." Malia stopped abruptly. He smirked, genuinely amused with the situation.

"Nothing like me? Oh, but you are. After a while you'll stop the depressed, moody girl act and be much more fun. You know, after everyone you know and love dies of old age." Damon hit a nerve. Malia hit him. Damon hit the floor, hard, and the compass he was holding fell out of his hand.

"What is that?"

"A compass. People used it before map-quest, you know. And that was uncalled for, by the way." Damon ran his hand over his jaw and moved it around to make sure it wasn't broken. Malia stooped down and grabbed the compass.

"This is Jeremy's pocket watch. What did you do to it?" She turned it over in her hands, trying to decide how to put it back the way it was. Damon got to his feet and snatched it back from her. She made a wild grab at it, but he put a hand against her shoulder and easily held her back.

" _I_ didn't do anything to it, don't be so judgy. Logan Fell had it."

"Well, give it back." She protested.

"No." Damon told her simply, slipping it back into his pocket. The doorbell rang.

"I'll get that. Sounds like your sister." Damon darted downstairs and Malia went after him.

"Is Stefan here?" Elena asked the second Damon had opened the door.

"Yep." Damon replied.

"Where is he?"

"And good morning to you, little Miss-I'm-On-a-Mission."

"How can you be so arrogant and glib after everything that you've done?"

"And how can you be so brave and stupid to call a vampire arrogant and glib?" Damon whirled around and had Malia's wrist in a death grip in under a second.

"Learn how to pick-pocket. You suck at it." He shoved her back and she stumbled off the short step into the living room. Elena walked in and hurried over to her.

"Are you okay?"

"What about my life right now makes you think that I can possibly be okay?" Malia demanded, rubbing her wrist.

"Ava's going over to our house, talking to Jeremy. You have the flu and don't want to get Jenna and Jeremy sick." The tone of voice Elena took on told Malia just how much she hated lying.

"Okay." Malia mumbled back.

"So where's Stefan?" Elena changed the subject. Malia listened intently before responding.

"Coming down the stairs…. There." Malia pointed and Elena turned towards Stefan as he came into view.

"I'll let you guys talk." Malia walk past them and went halfway up the stairs, stopping and sitting down on the landing.

"Where's Vicki?" She heard Elena ask.

"She's upstairs."

"What happens now? Because my brother is out there searching for her with the rest of the town and calling my sister every two minutes, freaking out about both of them. What do I tell him? He's not going to believe the cover story Ava's telling him for much longer. Especially since it's from Ava." Elena complained. Malia rolled her eyes at the insult to her best friend, but couldn't help but agree. Ava was a horrid liar, especially to people she knew as well as she knew Jeremy.

"I'm working with her, but it's gonna take time. She has a very volatile and impulsive personality. She's a drug user. I mean, all that's gonna play a part in how she responds to this."

"So, she's a vampire with issues?" Malia bit back a laugh at that; it was sassy comments like that that reminded her that she and Elena were, in fact, twins.

"What about Malia?" Elena added. Malia tensed, waiting for Stefan to speak his mind about her.

"She's… defensive. She says she wants help but she wants help from herself, not from me."

"Malia's like that." Elena agreed.

"I'm gonna keep them both here with me until I know that their safe."

"How long is that?" Vicki's voice reached Malia's ears. She got up and went back into the living room.

"We can talk about that later." Stefan told Vicki.

"Hey, Vicki. How are you?" Elena obviously hadn't learned her lesson from her conversation with Malia.

"How am I? You're kidding, right?"

* * *

Caroline jumped onto Jess's bed. Jess groaned and kept her back turned to her sister. Caroline sighed.

"Come on, Jess, Halloween is a time to smile."

"Actually, it's usually a time to get scared just for the sake of being scared. I'm not going to that school party thing, Care."

"Why not?" Caroline whined.

"I'm depressed."

"Ava and Malia are just playing hard to get." Caroline told her, brushing off the subject. Jess sat up and looked at her.

"We're talking about my best friends, not my boyfriend."

"Which you don't have."

"Yes, please, rub that in my face too." Jess lied back down, burying her face in her pillow.

"I promise you that you'll have fun."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"Pretty please come with me?" Caroline leaned over her younger sister, giving her a rough shake as if she didn't already have her attention. Jess groaned in protest and sat up again.

"I don't have anything to wear." Caroline's face broke into a smile.

"That's what I'm here for. I got you covered. Come on!" Caroline encouraged, pulling Jess out of bed. They went across the hall to Caroline's room and the older Forbes sister went to the closet to retrieve a costume.

"A witch?" Jess asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We'll match!"

* * *

Elena gasped for breath as Vicki held her by the throat against the wall. Where was Stefan, or Malia? Even Damon would be a welcome surprise.

"Let's get one thing straight. You had my brother whipped for fifteen years. Fifteen years and then you dumped him. When I look at you that is all I see, just so you know. And I'm gonna see Jeremy whenever I wanna see Jeremy, because I have some fun new toys to play with, and I won't think twice about ripping your little head off. You got it?" And then Vicki was off her, colliding with the wall opposite of Elena. Elena rubbed her throat and coughed, staring at Malia, who stood in between them.

"You're going to see my brother whenever you want?" Malia let out a very fake laugh and Vicki glared at her.

"Yeah, no, not happening." Malia added, going over to haul Vicki to her feet by her arm. Vicki struggled and managed to shove Malia backwards.

"Just stay away from me!"

"Trust me, Vicki; being trapped in the same house as you hasn't been a walk in the park for me either! Stay away from my brother and my sister or I'll be one ripping heads off." Vicki stomped out of the room. Elena stared at Malia. Stefan had told her that everything about a person would become enhanced after becoming a vampire; she had just never thought about how violent Malia could become. She was dead serious now; Elena knew if Vicki ever went near one of them again, there would be one less vampire to worry about.

"What's it like? Being a vampire?" Elena ventured, figuring a distraction might be good for both of them.

"I can't separate my feelings. I'm angry at everything and everyone. The only thing I can think clearly about is blood. It's not something I wanted to go through." Malia snapped, still fuming about Vicki.

"Then why did you do it? Turn, I mean?"

"My other choice was death, Elena. And I don't mean how I would've died if I didn't feed. There was a vampire hunter running around with wooden bullets. Stefan got shot. Damon showed up a little too late. I did it to save Stefan." Elena thought about that for a second.

"That was pretty brave."

"Bravery to the point of stupidity… That's kind of my thing. You should really get going."

"But-."

"I can hear your pulse right now and I am starving. You need to go." Malia told her coldly. Elena hesitated for a split second and then hurried out of the room.

* * *

Ava sat cross-legged on the couch next to Stefan, studying the homework page in front of her. Everyone couple of seconds, she would look up and glance around the room.

"Vicki, Damon and Malia are all upstairs." Stefan told her, scanning the pages of a history textbook with his eyes.

"Malia and I are kind of avoiding each other and now I'm avoiding Jess and sooner or later she's going cut me loose like she did with her mom after the divorce and… I'm just stressed. I can't concentrate." Ava threw her homework onto the coffee table and flopped back against the cushions.

"Malia seems to be adjusting okay, right? I mean, she seems to be but you've been with her more. And I know that being a vampire must suck and all-." Ava stopped abruptly. Stefan looked at her.

"Why do I come up with the best puns when I'm _not_ trying?" Just then, Damon and Vicki hurried downstairs and over to the front door.

"What are you doing?" Stefan asked, getting up and going over to them. Ava hesitated, but then followed, staying close to Stefan.

"She's been cooped up in your room all day. She's not Anne Frank." Damon protested. Malia came downstairs.

"Do I need to hit someone?" She threatened, staring straight at Damon. He ignored her, as usual.

"No, no. Hey, hey... Now's not the time for this." Stefan told Damon, looking between him and Vicki.

"If you're gonna teach her. Teach her. Show her what it's all about."

"She could hurt someone."

"I'm not taking her to Disneyland. We're going in the front yard. Come on." Damon and Vicki hurried out to the front yard. The other three followed after them. Malia took a deep breath of fresh air.

"Hey, why don't vampires burn up at night too? Moonlight is just reflected sunlight." Ava pointed out, looking to Malia as Stefan argued with Damon. When Malia didn't answer right away, Ava went on.

"I was thinking lower concentration or something. Of course I'm not the resident vampire expert or anything. Though I am living with four vampires at the moment which is totally weird, by the way. Not that you're necessarily weird. Well, no weirder than usual, but-."

"Magic isn't science. It breaks all the rules." Malia interrupted as an answer to her question. Ava stared up at the moon above them and seemed to consider that. Ahead of them, Damon was showing Vicki how to use her vampire speed.

"Live a little. No pun intended." Damon told her with a smirk. Vicki smiled back and then vamp-sped away, disappearing into the trees. Malia, Stefan and Ava looked at Damon.

"Uh… My bad."

"We have to go after her." Malia growled. Her fangs extended automatically and Ava nudged her arm.

"Uh… your fangs are kinda showing…" Ava made a motion towards her mouth. Malia looked away to try and get her vampire face under control.

"She'll go to either Matt or Jeremy." Stefan reminded them.

"I'll go to Jeremy, make sure he's okay and keep Vicki away from him." Malia said quickly. Stefan looked at her.

"I won't hurt him." She assured him.

"I'll go with her." Ava put in. Stefan hesitated but nodded. Ava looked over at Malia.

"We'll take my car." The two girls hurried away from the Salvatore brothers.


	12. Monster

**A/N This is the final part of 'Haunted'.**

 **After this chapter, I'm going to try and focus on Ava and Jess more, since they (Jess especially) haven't been in this nearly as much as Malia. I hope to distinguish the trio a bit more and flesh out their personalities.**

 **As always, please enjoy!**

* * *

Ava wearily walked into the Gilbert house. Malia tried to follow, but found herself trapped outside. Ava turned around.

"You have to be-."

"Invited in. Yeah, got that. Is anyone still here?" Malia asked. Ava checked the house before returning to the porch.

"No one."

"I'm calling Jeremy." Malia hit the speed dial on her phone and put it to her ear. Jeremy answered almost immediately.

" _Malia? Where are you? You've been MIA for days!_ "

"Yeah, I know. Where are you?" Malia turned his own question back on him.

" _You didn't answer my question_."

"You didn't answer mine."

" _I asked you first._ "

"Fine, I'm at the house. Where are you?" Malia demanded, annoyed.

" _At the school, for the Halloween thing. Look, I'm meeting Vicki here but afterwards I'll come_ -."

"You're what?" Malia interrupted, grinding her teeth together.

" _I'm meeting Vicki. Don't give me that she's-no-good-for-me-lecture because_ -."

"I'm coming there." Malia hung up and turned to Ava, who was still waiting in the doorway.

"Vicki's at the school. Call Stefan." Before Ava could respond, Malia darted off in a blur of speed.

* * *

The school was crowded with people. Malia tried to hold her breath, to ignore the deafening sounds of beating hearts, but it wasn't working. She focused her hearing, searching for Vicki or Stefan's voice. When she heard what she was looking for, she rushed into the dark classroom, shutting the door behind her.

"You shouldn't be here, Vicki. Crowds like this, it make it even harder for you to keep yourself under control." Stefan was telling her. Malia knew what he meant and grimaced; since when was she on the same level _of anything_ as Vicki Donovan?

"I'm fine!"

"Really? No headache? Your stomach's not screaming at you? You're not feeling lightheaded or anxious or cranky like if someone looks at you the wrong way you could just rip their head off? Do you wanna know what that's called? It's called hunger and it's only gonna get worse and worse every minute that you pretend like it's not controlling you."

"We need to get out of here." Malia put in. Stefan glanced over at her. Her jaw was clenched tightly, her eyes looking out the window at the crowd of people just past the flimsy, very non-vampire-proof wooden door.

"Let's go. Vicki?" Stefan looked back at the other new vampire.

"I'm not going anywhere with either one of you!"

"Vicki-." Stefan started. Malia darted forward, grabbing hold of Vicki's arm.

"I'm not asking." Vicki shoved Malia back, but the blonde recovered her balance quickly. She darted forward and Stefan caught her, grabbing her arm that was drawn back for a punch.

"This isn't helping."

"I never claimed to be helpful." Malia jerked back from Stefan and he let her go, turning to grab Vicki by the arm instead.

"Vicki, come on." He told her with slightly more force. He pulled her out of the classroom and Malia hurriedly followed.

"Oh, thank gosh!" Elena said as she saw them.

"What's the matter?" Stefan asked.

"I lost track of Jeremy. I was worried."

"What's going on?" Matt demanded, walking over to them.

"Hey. Uh, everything's fine." Malia rolled her eyes; Stefan was a horrid liar, so how had he survived this long as a vampire?

"I told you to quit bothering me." Vicki yanked her arm out of Stefan's grip.

"No. Vicki, don't do this." Elena pleaded.

"Matt, he won't leave me alone." She whined.

"You need to back off, man." Matt was instantly in protective-brother mode. Vicki backed away.

"Matt, it's...its okay." Elena tried to convince him.

"No, it's not okay. What is your problem?" Matt demanded. Vicki turned to walk away but Malia grabbed her by the back of her Halloween costume.

"Oh no, you don't!" Vicki whirled, slapping Malia across the face with an audible smacking sound. Malia went to the floor, releasing Vicki.

"Stefan. She's gone." Elena pointed out the obvious. Stefan started to follow but Matt grabbed him. Malia got up and, forcing herself to go at human speed, ran after Vicki. She pushed her way through the crowd, trying to catch sight of the other vampire. _When I find her, she's going to wish she'd stayed dead,_ Malia thought bitterly.

"Malia!" Jess's voice made her stop.

"Malia, hey, I haven't seen you in days." Jess hurried over, a worried expression on her face. Malia glanced around, still unable to spot Vicki.

"And I would love to stay and chat, but I have to go." Malia hurried off, leaving a confused Jess behind. She pushed open the door to the back alley, where they kept the buses, and saw Vicki attacking Jeremy. She darted over and grabbed Vicki by the throat. Vicki stumbled back, trying to get free.

"Malia!" Jeremy said in surprise. He was ignored and Vicki was thrown at the side of one of the buses. Stefan appeared in a blur of speed, pinning her against the bus.

"Jeremy, Jeremy, come on!" Elena tugged on Jeremy's arm, trying to get him to go back into the school.

"Vicki!" Vicki squirmed out of Stefan's grip and disappeared underneath the bus. Stefan started searching for her. Malia glared at him.

"You had _one job_!" She stooped down, checking quickly underneath the nearest bus, and then straightened up to look on top of it.

"If I was a drug-addict turned vampire, where would I be?" Malia asked herself, hoping it annoyed Vicki, who could undoubtedly hear her. There was a scream from Elena and both vampires whirled around. Vicki was biting into her neck. Malia and Stefan reached Vicki at the same time. The difference was that Malia stooped down to grab something as she reached Vicki. Stefan pulled her back and Malia stabbed her through the chest with a wooden stake. Malia could hear Jeremy screaming Vicki's name, saw Elena and Stefan holding him back out of the corner of her eye. She let go of the stake, letting Vicki collapse, already turning grey.

"Get him out of here!" Elena ordered Stefan.

"Call Damon." Malia wasn't sure if he was talking to Elena or to her, but he was already dragging Jeremy from the scene and she didn't feel like stopping him to ask. Elena fell to her knees by Vicki's body, not even looking at Malia.

"It had to be done." Malia told her, pulling her phone out of her jeans pocket.

"I… I didn't think you'd be the one to do it…" Elena sputtered. Malia put her phone to her ear and heard Damon's phone ringing on the other end.

" _Who's this?_ "

"Me." Malia knew he'd recognize her voice.

" _Thanks for playing the pronoun game, Gilbert. Why are you calling me?_ "

"We found her, I killed her."

" _Again with the pronouns_ -."

"Vicki's dead and I need your help, alright?" Malia snapped. There was a pause on the other end.

" _I'll be right there_."

* * *

Damon was true to his word; a minute later he arrived in a blur of speed. He glanced between a pacing Malia and a crying Elena.

"You should go. I got this." He told them.

"You did this. This is your fault."

"I'm not the one that shoved a stake into Vicki's heart." He pointed out, staring at Malia. She turned her back to him. He looked back at Elena.

"And either way, you confuse me for someone with remorse." Elena went to slap Damon but he grabbed her wrist, easily stopping her.

"None of this matters to me. None of it."

"People die around you. How could it not matter? It matters, and you know it." She hit him with her other hand. He released her wrist. Malia turned around at the sound, ready to intervene if necessary.

"You need to leave. Your wounds are bleeding and you need to leave."

"Elena, come on." Malia grabbed her arm and pulled her away from Damon. Elena went towards the parking lot, but Malia turned towards Damon.

"What are you going to do with her?" She motioned towards Vicki's body.

"Bury her where no one will ever find her." He squatted down to examine the body.

"Right through the heart… You've got an instinct to kill, Gilbert Barbie."

"Only because you made me a vampire." She snapped at him.

"Everything you were as a human was just enhanced." He shot back. Malia glared at him and then darted away.

* * *

Malia stood in the doorway to her own house, unable to get in. Elena walked down the stairs.

"Can you invite me?" Malia asked, tapping her fingers against the doorframe.

"Come in." Malia stepped inside and hurried upstairs as Elena went to talk to Stefan on the porch.

"Jeremy?" She walked into his bedroom. He was sitting on the bed, hugging his knees to his chest. He looked up when she came in.

"Jeremy, I-."

"What are you?" Had she shown her vampire face? She wasn't even sure; it had all happened so fast. Maybe he was referring to her speed or the fact that she had mercilessly jammed a wooden stake into Vicki's heart.

"Jeremy, I'm sorry about tonight. Vicki was going to kill Elena and I had to do something!"

"What are you?" Jeremy repeated, staring at her.

"A vampire." She whispered so quietly she wasn't sure he heard it.

"Just leave me alone."

"Jeremy-."

"Please. Just leave me alone." He repeated.

"I've got to talk to him anyways." She turned towards Damon. Elena was behind him and she gave Malia a reassuring nod. Malia stepped out of Damon's way and ran up to her bedroom instead. She heard Elena following her, pausing in the doorway. She let Elena think about what she was going to say; no doubt it was going to be the lecture to end all lectures. Getting turned into a vampire and then killing another vampire who happened to be their brother's girlfriend probably wasn't the way to get onto Elena's good side. Malia busied herself with packing more clothes into a backpack; it looked like she was going to be at the Boarding House for a long time.

"Damon's going to compel him to forget tonight." Malia froze at Elena's words.

"He's just a kid. He shouldn't have to remember this and… he would tell people what he saw tonight if he did." Elena continued.

"You mean he would tell people that I stabbed Vicki."

"Yeah."

"And here I thought sibling loyalty went all the way to murder… Apparently not." Malia tried to joke but it didn't turn out the way she'd wanted it to.

"You're staying at the Boarding House?" Elena changed the subject.

"I think it's best if I do." Malia agreed, nodding and trying not to let her emotions slip into her voice.

"Malia." Malia turned around and saw that Elena was a mere foot away from her. Elena pulled her into a tight hug.

"You're my sister, my twin. I don't want you living someplace else." Malia let Elena hug her for a minute. Then she slowly pulled away, shouldering her backpack.

"Disappointment abounds." She strode past Elena and out of the room.

* * *

Walking into the Boarding House was oddly calmly for Malia. At least there she knew Stefan wouldn't let her get out of control. Ava was waiting, pacing by the couch. She turned when she saw Malia come in.

"I heard what happened." She held up her phone for emphasis instead of explaining it in words for once. No doubt Stefan had called her when he was dragging Jeremy back to the Gilbert house. Malia nodded once.

"I figured. I'm going to go try and get some sleep." Malia turned to leave but Ava scrambled to the stairs to block her path.

"How's Jeremy?"

"Devastated. Well, he was until about ten minutes ago. When Damon compelled him to forget everything." Ava's eyes widened.

"Damon-."

"With Elena's permission, because that makes it okay." Malia said sarcastically. She took a deep breath, playing with the strap on her backpack.

"Obviously I'm not going to school for a while. Or home. Or leaving this house unless it's to go with Stefan on a midnight bunny hunt, so… Can you take care of him, please? Just become a friend for him? He needs one."

"I was always one of his friends." Ava looked genuinely insulted.

"Well, let him know that now."

"I will." Ava nodded in agreement. Malia returned her nod and then went upstairs. She started counted the steps as she went; she had a feeling she was going to get way too familiar with this house…


	13. Repercussions

**A/N this is the entire 162 Candles episode. Enjoy!**

* * *

Ava tried not to seem too nervous, but the thought of her looking nervous only made her that much more nervous. She tapped her foot against the floor, causing her whole leg to shake.

"Are you alright?" Sheriff Forbes asked her.

"Fine. I've just never been questioned before."

"Well, relax; I'm sure you have nothing to worry about." Ava nodded in response but Sheriff Forbes's words didn't really help her that much. She tried to think of it in a different light: Liz was her best friend's mother asking her casual questions. She took a deep breath as the questioning began.

"When the last time you saw Vicki?" Ava's mind and heart raced; _when was the last time I saw her prior to her death?_

"She was at the Boarding House, just for a little while. She was some hard-core drugs, I think. Stefan was trying to get her to sober up before… Is sober up the proper term or is it just with being drunk?"

"It's fine. Did anything strange happen while she was there?"

"Besides her being high and causing trouble at every turn? Not really. Once she was a little better, she went to Matt's house, but Stefan was still worried about her so he went to check on her there."

"And Matt wouldn't let Stefan in?"

"According to Stefan, no." _That's it, A,_ she told herself sarcastically, _when in doubt, throw Stefan under the bus._

"Okay, I'm going to back-track. You called your home the 'Boarding House'?"

"Yeah."

"That sounds a bit rehearsed, if you don't mind me saying."

"How?" Ava asked, genuinely confused.

"Most people refer to the place that they've lived their entire lives as 'home' or their house."

"Well, have you seen the inside? It's more like a museum than a home and it's not my house. Legally, it belongs to Damon. It used to be a Boarding House until around the time I was two because then Zach kind of shut it down. The name stuck for me, I guess. Can we get back to Vicki? Is that too suspicious for me to ask?" Ava started chewing on her thumbnail. Sheriff Forbes gave her a weird look and kept going.

"Is there anyone I can talk to that may know what happened to her prior to her leaving town?"

"Stefan." _Might as well make him thoroughly suspicious in this whole story,_ she thought. He was a vampire without ADHD or, apparently, anxiety. He could, and would have to, take the questioning better than her.

"Because he helped her when she was on drugs?"

"Yes."

"What was her behavior like those past few days, before she left?" _Very vampiric,_ Ava thought instantly, and was suddenly very glad that not _everything_ she thought came out of her mouth.

"Weird."

"Just… weird?"

"It was like she had ten different personalities."

"Any signs of aggression of violence?"

"Uh… Malia said that she shoved Jeremy pretty hard and she-." Ava stopped abruptly. _What am I doing?_ She scolded herself.

"And?" Sheriff Forbes pressed. _Threatened Elena, tried to kill Jeremy, tried to kill Elena? What do you want to hear,_ Ava screamed in her head.

"And everything little thing can set her off. She was a bit scary, to be honest." That wasn't technically a lie.

"So you believe that Vicki really has left town?"

"Yes."

"Why don't you send your cousin in?"

"What?" Ava asked, confused.

"Stefan. Why don't you send him in on your way out?" Sheriff Forbes asked slowly, giving her another suspicious look.

"Oh, yeah, him." Ava hurriedly got up from the chair and nearly knocked it over in the process. She stooped down to grab her bag.

"I really think of him more like a brother and then I have another cousin and I don't think of him as a brother and it just confused me for a second because I thought we were still talking about Vicki. Who I have no relation to. Well, actually, I don't know a lot about my mother so maybe we do. Please don't arrest me on the grounds of being too suspicious." Ava slipped out the door into the waiting room, relieved that Sheriff Forbes didn't stop her.

"Stefan, you're up." She nudged his shoulder as he sat in one of the chairs. He stood up and then leaned in to whisper to her.

"How did you do?"

"Horribly. I'm going to wait in the car." He gave her a look, one that was asking just how much she'd screwed up. She shrugged and hurried out of the police station. Her car was parked fairly close to the doors; it didn't take long to scramble into the passenger's seat. No doubt Stefan was going to be driving anyway. She pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them. _Zach would know what to do,_ she reminded herself. She dug into her purse and pulled out her phone. She started scrolling through the pictures. Ava smiled slightly when she saw pictures of herself, Malia and Jess all together, squeezing into a selfie. Pictures of just Malia and Jess, with Ava behind the camera. Then she got to the older ones, the ones from before the Salvatore brothers showed up and everything went haywire. Ones that were just her and Zach… A tap on the window made her let out an undignified scream.

"Sorry." Elena apologized as Ava slipped out of the car to talk.

"Did you already get through with your questioning?"

"Yeah. I don't think she suspects anything. She did want to know where Malia was, though."

"What did you tell her?" Ava asked, glancing around to make sure no one was within hearing distance.

"Just that she's out of town and has been since before the whole Vicki thing. Jenna's still worried sick and Jeremy's getting a bit grumpy about the whole thing, though."

"Well, Malia can't go out in sunlight, so…" Ava trailed off; Elena knew as well as she did what that meant.

"How long is this going to go on? I can't lie to everyone about my sister forever."

"We'll figure something out." Ava assured her. Elena nodded, though she didn't look like she believed it.

"So you've been hanging out with Jeremy?"

"Little bit." Ava held her thumb and forefinger close together to indicate the same thing as she had said.

"Well, thanks. I have to go." Elena spotted Stefan and took off like a cat that saw water. Ava watched her go then turned to Stefan.

"You really know how to get a girl's heart racing. In fear, that is."

"Oh, shut up." Stefan told her with a roll of his eyes. They got back into the car.

* * *

Lexi walked into the hallway of the Boarding House and saw Malia exiting her own room. They caught sight of each other at the same time, but it was Lexi who spoke up first.

"So you're the new vamp that Stefan's helping?"

"Malia."

"Lexi." The two blondes shook hands.

"It must be rough, living here as a new vampire, with Damon of all people right next door." Lexi gave a sympathetic shudder and Malia smiled.

"I can hold my own against Damon."

"Really? As a newbie?"

"I have a temper problem and he can't kill me without facing the wraith of Elena. I make it work to my advantage." Malia smiled; she was glad to be able to talk to another female vampire that wasn't Vicki Donovan.

"Oooh, the doppelganger, right?"

"The what?" Malia asked. Lexi stared at her.

"You… didn't know?"

"Know what? Don't play the pronoun game with me."

"Come here. I'm going to show you something." Lexi took Malia by the hand and the two women hurried up the stairs to Stefan's attic bedroom. Immediately, Lexi was rooting around the stuff on Stefan's desk.

"So you and Elena, you're sisters, right?" Lexi asked over her shoulder.

"Twins." Lexi stopped and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Fraternal twins."

"Ah…" Lexi seemed to find what she was looking for, since she grabbed something with a triumphant shout. Malia moved to grab it, but Lexi held the small photograph out of her reach, the back to Malia so she couldn't even glimpse who the photograph was of.

"What do you know about Katherine?"

"Ex-girlfriend of both brothers. Turned them into vampires circa eighteen-sixties… Trust me; Ava gave me the full run-down of Stefan's past."

"I've yet to meet his baby niece." Lexi said thoughtfully.

"Baby niece?" Malia echoed, making another unsuccessful grab for the photograph.

"Get as old as I am, teenagers will seem like babies to you too. And don't worry about the whole no-sunlight thing. It's a bummer, but you'll get used to it. You're in high school. What does the word doppelganger mean?"

"A double of a living person. It's from a German that means double-goer. What does this have to do with Elena and Katherine?"

"Look at Katherine." Lexi turned the photograph around and Malia stared.

"That's Katherine?"

"Looks like your sister, doesn't it?"

"Yeah." Malia breathed, unable to believe it.

"I don't know the how or the why, but your sister is definitely Katherine Pierce's doppelganger."

In the Forbes house, Caroline helped Jess tie her long hair back into a braid. The sun had set and Caroline was eager to get to the party she'd planned out at the last minute at the Grill.

"So what is this party for anyway?" Jess asked, trying to make sure her lipstick didn't end up looking like the Joker's makeup.

"I… am not completely sure. I don't remember anyway." Caroline shrugged it off, gave Jess's shoulders a squeeze and turned to sit down on the bed in order to slip into her heels.

"You don't remember why you wanted a huge party at the Grill?" Jess asked.

"Nope. You know, blue looks really good on you. Let's go." Caroline grabbed her bag and walked out of the room. Dumbfounded, Jess followed.

* * *

Malia looked around the crowded Grill. Lexi nudged her arm with her elbow and gave her a smile.

"It's fine. You're in control. Besides, when's the last time you went to a party?" The older vampire asked. Damon walked over to them.

"Where's my brother?" He asked immediately.

"He said he'd meet us here." Lexi told him.

"Buy you a-." He stopped when Lexi pulled Malia away towards one of the tables instead.

"Ugh. I don't know why Stefan hasn't staked him yet." Lexi complained, taking her seat. Malia sat down across from her.

"They're siblings. It's kind of hard to hate siblings, no matter how annoying they are."

"Spoken like a true sibling. So is it just you and Elena? Stefan told me about your parents."

"We're living with our aunt, Jenna, and we've got a brother, Jeremy, but I haven't been around the house much, obviously." Malia explained.

"Being a vampire sucks sometimes, pun intended. Oh, Stefan!" Lexi waved Stefan over as he entered the grill.

"Dance with me." Lexi pulled Stefan towards the dance floor, catching the hood of Malia's sweatshirt and dragging her off her chair at the same time.

"Okay, I'm gonna need a _little_ more foot movement." Lexi complained, dancing with Malia.

"Yeah, not really interested in making a fool out of myself."

"Come on, you're not that bad." Lexi protested.

"And I'll only make fun of you for a decade or so." Malia added.

"Do me a favor; tell me if you see Damon with his camera phone." Malia and Lexi exchanged smiles as Stefan started dancing.

* * *

Jess knocked on the door of the girl's bathroom in the Grill and waited. There was no answer from inside.

"Caroline, I know you're in there!"

"Go away."

"Not likely. Let me in." The door unlocked and then opened just enough for Jess to slip inside. Caroline's eyes were red and her ruined mascara was proof of what had been happening.

"Caroline, what's going on? What happened?" Jess demanded.

"Nothing." Caroline lied.

"Oh, you decided you just wanted to look like a deranged clown tonight? What happened?" Jess repeated, more forcefully this time.

"Damon called me stupid. And useless. And shallow." Caroline was sobbing again. Jess hugged her.

"You're not useless or shallow or stupid."

"You always say stuff like that." Caroline mumbled. Jess waited for her to explain and, to her relief, she did:

"You're positive and constant and smart and kind and… and I'm shallow. Like a kiddy pool!"

"You're not a kiddy pool."

"Yes I am! I'm a puddle!"

"You're not." Jess repeated. Caroline pulled away and wiped at her eyes, though that only made it worse.

"I want to go and have fun! I want to forget about Damon!"

"Good girl."

"This party was for him but he doesn't deserve it."

"This party was for Damon?" Jess asked.

"Not anymore!" Caroline stooped into the sink to wash her make-up off. Then she straightened up, smiled and the sisters left the bathroom.

* * *

Lexi passed a shot to Malia at the pool table. Malia looked around nervously. Lexi just laughed at her.

"You're a vampire. Compel anyone who annoys you."

"Well, maybe not-." Stefan started.

"Oh, let the vamp lessons slide tonight." Lexi told him, effectively shutting him up. Malia downed her shot and Lexi applauded. Then she grabbed the pool stick from Malia.

"Now, you're going to go compel us some more shots while I beat our favorite vampire at pool." Lexi told her. Malia looked towards the bar and wearily walked over to it. The bartended turned to her, already opening his mouth to ask for an I.D. Malia locked eyes with him.

"Don't ask for an I.D. I'm getting three shots, on the house." He wordlessly handed over three shots.

"Thank you." Malia carried them back to Lexi and Stefan. Lexi gave her an enthusiastic high-five as a reward.

"You're gonna love being a vampire, Malia, mark my words."

* * *

Less than an hour after getting Caroline out of the bathroom, Jess found herself dragging Caroline out of the Grill. Caroline was nearly knocking her over, putting her full weight on the smaller girl.

"I'm deep like the abyss." Caroline mumbled, burying her face in Jess's neck.

"Yeah, you're awesome. You're knocking me over." Jess fell to the pavement and Caroline fell against her.

"This was a horrid idea." Jess complained. Matt walked over to them and easily picked Caroline up off the ground. She didn't even seem to notice she was getting carried by him. Jess got to her feet.

"Thanks."

"What happened? Is she okay?" Liz hurried over to them. Jess blew a loose strand of hair out of her face.

"Like you care." Caroline snapped drunkenly.

"She's drunk?"

"Extremely." Jess agreed.

"Are they serving you in there?"

"I'll take them home. I haven't been drinking." Matt told her.

"Thank you. You and I will discuss this later." She told the two girls. Matt carried Caroline away and Jess hurried after them.

* * *

Malia sat on the edge of the pool table, looking at Stefan. Elena had joined them and Lexi had disappeared, probably back to the bar.

"This has actually been fun." Malia admitted.

"Which means this night has been a success." Elena told her with a smile. Malia smiled back. Suddenly, Stefan hurried away from them.

"Stefan?" Malia and Elena rushed after him.

"Stefan, what happened?" Malia asked in a whisper, so low that even Elena couldn't hear. Stefan whispered back from a couple feet away, knowing that Malia could hear him.

"They took Lexi."

"Who?"

"Vampire hunters." Malia picked up the pace and caught up to him as he tried to leave the Grill. A police officer blocked his way.

"Can't go out this way." Malia grabbed Stefan's arm and pulled him away.

"Back door, through the kitchen." She whispered. The trio hurried out the back door unnoticed by the staff. Gunshots ran out and they picked up the pace, stopping at the corner of the alley just in time to see Damon staking Lexi. Stefan grabbed Malia as she struggled to get forward, pulling her back. The trio stayed there until the police cruiser pulled away. Then Stefan released her and walked away.

"Stefan, Stefan!" Elena called after him, following. Malia took a deep breath and then went after them.

"He killed her! He killed Zach! He killed Tanner! He turned Vicki and Malia! I have to kill him!"

"No, you can't do that!" Elena protested.

"Why are you trying to save him?! Elena, he's never gonna change! Don't you see that? He's never gonna change!"

"I'm not trying to save _him_ ; I'm trying to save you! You have no idea what this will do you, please, Stefan!"

"What, and you do?" Malia snapped at Elena.

"Everywhere I've been, pain and death follows, Damon follows me. No more."

"Stefan, please, just talk to me, let me be here for you, talk to me." Elena sputtered.

"No. You were right to stay away from me. Malia, make sure she gets home okay." He darted off, disappearing.

* * *

Ava sat down next to Stefan on his bed. Malia was staying with Jeremy, Jenna and Elena for the time being to assure her aunt and brother that she was still alive.

"You didn't kill Damon?"

"Not yet." He grumbled. Ava hugged him, careful not to let her Vervain necklace touch him.

"I'm sorry."

"Every time I think I can settle down somewhere… it never works. My own family tries to ruin my life!"

"Not all your family." She protested, resting her head on his shoulder. He sighed, reaching up to hug her back.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"My uncle and father were killed by my distant uncle, my mom ran off and I'm living with three vampires… I don't think I've ever been okay."


	14. Ghost Whisperers

**A/N Part one of 'History Repeating'**

* * *

"Good morning everyone. Alrighty." The new history teacher wrote his name on the chalkboard. Jess glanced down at the text on her phone, from Caroline of course.

 _Don't get why M doesn't like me_

Jess glanced over at Matt, knowing that that was the 'M' Caroline was talking about. She had gotten most of the details that morning, but it was a subject Caroline just wasn't ready to go. Matt was in a seat fairly close to Elena, which probably pissed Caroline off even more. She texted Caroline back quickly.

 _Ask him._

 _R U INSANE?!_

Obviously Jess didn't know boys like Caroline knew them. She paused in her texting to listen to the teacher.

"Alaric Saltzman… It's a mouthful, I know… Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Saltzman is of German origins. My family immigrated here in 1755 to Texas. I, however, was born and raised in Boston. Now the name Alaric belongs to a very dead great-grandfather I will never be able to thank enough. You'll probably want to pronounce it 'Alaric' but it's 'Alaric', okay? So, you can call me Ric. I'm your new history teacher."

* * *

Damon crept into Stefan's room. Stefan was asleep near the top of the bed. Ava was passed out with a textbook lying across her chest at the end of the bed. Malia was lying next to Stefan, her face buried in the pillow. Damon waved the coffee cup he was holding underneath Stefan's nose.

"Rise and shine! You'll be late for school." He handed Stefan the coffee cup and then darted over to open the curtains ever-so slightly. Malia screamed as her face burned and rolled off the bed for cover. Damon let the curtain fall back into place.

"What are you doing?" Stefan demanded. Ava was awake now, looking around in confusion.

"Peace offering. Come on, you need it for blood circulation. Does dead flesh good..." Damon encouraged, motioning to the coffee. Malia got to her feet and collided with Damon. They both went to the floor in a blurred tangled of super-speeding arms and legs. Stefan set his coffee down and pulled them apart.

"I hate waking up to stuff like this!" Ava cried, scrambling off the bed to help hold Malia back.

"I got the town off our back. It was for the greater good, but I'm sorry. And to prove it, I'm not gonna feed on a human for… at least a week. I'll adopt a Stefan diet! Only nothing with feathers."

"Cause I realize that killing your closest and oldest friend is beyond evil and yet, somehow, it's worthy of humor." Stefan mocked him.

"Are you mimicking me?"

"Yes, Stefan. Now that the secret society of vampire haters is off our back, I can go back to my routine of 'how can I destroy Stefan's life this week'." Stefan continued.

"And I can go back to sulking and Elena-longing and forehead brooding…. This is fun, I like this!" Damon laughed.

"And I will finally reveal the ulterior motive behind my evil and diabolical return to Mystic Falls."

"Yeah I'm done. That's just like you, Damon. Always have to have the last word." Damon started to walk from the room, but then turned back.

"Have fun with your snuggle buddies." Malia grabbed the textbook from Ava and threw it at his head, narrowing missing him as he left the room. After he was gone, the girls turned to Stefan.

"I don't suppose we can just change the locks on the house?" Ava suggested.

"Did this all start with Katherine, seriously?" Malia added. Stefan sat on the edge of his desk.

"Yeah, it did."

"I love my sister, but she's not _that_ pretty, which means neither was Katherine." Malia mumbled. Stefan stared at her.

"Lexi told me."

"Of course she did."

"And I would keep this-." Malia reached around him to grab the photograph of Katherine on the desk. "-someplace a bit more secret if you intend on keeping this from Elena."

"You're not going to tell her?"

"No. I really don't care about vampire drama. I just want to get one of those magical rings and go back to my life." Malia tapped Stefan's bulky ring and then left the room. Ava grabbed the untouched coffee cup from the desk, but Stefan took it from her.

"You really don't need coffee to be hyper-active." He reminded her. She rolled her eyes. He stood up.

"And never accept food or drink from Damon."

* * *

Jess sat in the passenger seat of Caroline's car, her backpack on her lap, as Caroline drove. She tried to remember the last time she'd gone to a sleep-over at the Gilbert house but she was coming up blank. It wasn't Malia's idea, which was more than a little disappointing, but Elena promised Malia would be there.

"Matt's mad at me. He said that I pulled a lame-girl move, breathing more into something than was there." Caroline leaned forward, resting her chin on the steering wheel.

"He'll forgive you, don't worry. Matt's a very forgiving person, but you've got to give him time." Jess told her.

"How come you don't have a boyfriend?"

"Because I have to worry about yours?" Jess suggested with a smile. Caroline smacked her arm.

"Seriously, you should get out more." Caroline parked on the curb of the Gilbert house and turned off the car. Neither sister got out.

"For the record, I ship you and Matt."

"You ship us?"

"I Titanic you."

"Aw, thanks!" Caroline and Jess gave each other a hug and then went to climb out of the car. Jess knocked on the door as Caroline fiddled with the strap on the own bag.

"I got it, I got it!" Ava's voice came. A second later, the door was yanked open as wide as it would go.

"Come on in." The sisters stepped into the house. Elena poked her head out of the kitchen and waved them in. Malia and Bonnie were digging through the fridge for a suitable dinner. Elena gave Caroline a look. Caroline sighed and turned to Bonnie.

"I'm sorry. There. I said it. If you want the ugly-butt necklace, keep it. It's yours."

"Will you hate me if I tell you I threw it away?"

"You threw it away?!"

"I know it sounds crazy but the necklace was giving me nightmares. I had to get rid of it." Bonnie explained.

"What necklace?" Malia interrupted, annoyed.

"There's this necklace that Damon wanted but Caroline gave it to me." Bonnie explained to her.

"You could have just given it back to me!" Caroline put in.

"Would you have given it back to Damon?" Malia asked suspiciously. Caroline seemed to snap out of it.

"Screw Damon! Are we doing manicures or what? Who has their kit?" She asked, looking around.

"Mine's in my bag." Bonnie offered.

"I'll get it." Jess went to rifle through Bonnie's bag at the kitchen table. Malia and Ava followed her over.

"I'm glad you guys came over here." Malia admitted.

"What's going on with you lately?" Jess asked.

"I've just been having a rough time." It wasn't a total lie.

"That's what we're for, to help you out in rough times." Jess pointed out, motioning to herself and Ava. Then she frowned and pulled something out of Bonnie's bag. It was the necklace that Caroline and Bonnie were talking about.

"Put it back!" Ava hissed, trying to shove it back into the bag. Malia grabbed it.

"I thought you threw this away?" She asked, holding it up for Bonnie to see. Ava put her head on Jess's shoulder, groaning. _Why did I choose the most confrontational girl in Mystic Falls to be my best friend?_ She wondered.

"Why are you such a little liar, Bonnie?" Caroline shrieked.

"Caroline!" Jess protested.

"I'm not lying to you, Caroline, I swear."

"It's true. I watch her throw it into a field!" Elena added.

"Then explain it!"

"Emily." Bonnie said simply.

"Who's Emily?"

"The ghost."

"Oh, the ghost has a name now?"

"Caroline, please." Jess pleaded, going to put her hand on her sister's shoulder.

"I wonder why she won't leave me alone." Bonnie said to Elena.

"What's going on? Why am I not a part of this conversation? You guys do this to me all the time." Caroline protested.

"That's not true!" Elena told her.

"Yes, it is. I can't talk to you. You don't listen." Bonnie told her calmly.

"That's not true."

"I'm a witch."

"And don't we all know it?"

"See? That's what I'm talking about. I'm trying to tell you something and you don't even hear it."

"I listen. When do I not listen?" Bonnie stomped off into the living room and Caroline huffed in annoyance.

"I forgot how much I missed all this drama." Malia said sarcastically.

"Well then you should have just let us put it back in the bag." Ava shot back, folding her arms across her chest. Caroline sighed at the look Elena was giving her and went after Bonnie.

"So… dinner?" Jess asked hopefully.

"Dinner." Elena agreed, pulling a pizza box out of the fridge. The four girls gathered around but Bonnie and Caroline reentered the room before they could grab plates and dig in.

"I have an idea. Why don't we have a séance?" Caroline suggested.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Bonnie protested.

"Let's not mess with the supernatural tonight, please." Ava added nervously.

"Come on! Let's summon some spirits. This Emily chick has some serious explaining to do."

* * *

Caroline and Jess managed to convince the other four with quite a bit of effort. They gathered in Elena's bedroom.

"What are we doing?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't know." Elena admitted.

"About to die." Ava suggested with a moan. Jess nudged her with her shoulder and gave her a weird look.

"Be quiet and concentrate. Take each other's hands. Close your eyes. Now take a deep breath." Elena took Bonnie and Ava's hands, Ava took Jess's hand, Jess took Caroline's and Caroline took hold of Malia's hand while Malia grabbed Bonnie's. They all closed their eyes.

"Bonnie. Call to her."

"Emily, you there?"

"Really? Emily, you there? That's all you got? Come on!" Caroline protested, opening one eye to glare at Bonnie.

"Fine, jeez! Emily. I call on you. I know you have a message. I'm here to listen." The candles immediately flared stronger. Ava shrieked and backed away, banging into Elena's dresser. Malia yanked her hands from Bonnie and Caroline's.

"What was that?"

"It's just the air conditioning." Jess suggested, though she sounded a little nervous about the whole thing.

"Ask her to show you a sign. Ask her!" Caroline insisted. Bonnie just shook her head and kept silent. Caroline sighed.

"Emily, if you're among us, show us another sign." Nothing happened.

"See? It's not working." Bonnie told them. The windows burst open and she let out a shriek.

"I can't, I'm done!" She threw the necklace on the ground next to the candles. The flames went out.

"Get the light. Please, get the light!" Ava cried. Malia darted over to the wall, knowing that none of them could see her speed.

"I got it!" She flicked on the lights and the girls looked around, frightened.

"You guys, the necklace. It's gone." Bonnie gasped. Everyone looked around.

"Okay. Fun's over, Caroline. You made a point and I get it. Now give it back." Elena told her.

"What? I didn't take it." everyone turned to Malia.

"If I was going to take it, I would break it, not hide it." Everyone nodded their agreement; breaking things was Malia's way of handling a situation.

"Did you hear something?" Ava asked fearfully. Malia walked into the hallway. Elena joined her.

"Remember, you're the scariest thing in this house." She whispered to her vampire twin. Malia nodded once.

"I always was."

"True."

"Jeremy, are you home?" Malia called out. Behind them, Bonnie went into the bathroom.

"Guys…" She stooped down to pick up the necklace. The doors slam shut behind her.

"Open the door! Help me!" Caroline and Jess pounded on the door, trying to open it, as bonnie screamed for help. Elena ran to the hall door. Ava and Malia ran for the door in Jeremy's room.

"Bonnie! Bonnie! Unlock the door!"

"Open the door!"

"Bonnie?!" No doubt the neighbors were hating them at the moment… Ava looked at Malia.

"Break it down!" She whispered.

"I… I can't." Malia threw herself against it with all her vampire strength; nothing worked. The doors swung open. Bonnie stood in the middle of the bathroom with her head in her hands.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Elena asked breathlessly.

"I'm fine." Bonnie said tonelessly.

"Unbelievable! You were totally faking it!" Caroline cried. Jess was breathing heavily and looked like she'd been slapped across the face.

"You scared me!" She complained.

"Bonnie?" Elena asked worriedly as her friend walked right past her and started down the stairs.

"I'm fine. Everything's fine."

"I can't believe I fell for it!" Caroline was complaining, grabbing her bag from Elena's bed. Jess tugged on her strawberry blonde curls nervously. Caroline handed Jess her bag and the sisters went to the top of the stairs to join Malia, Elena and Ava.

"Are you okay?" Elena called after Bonnie.

"I must go."

"She's leaving, I'm leaving." Caroline told them.

"You guys can't leave!" Elena protested.

"I'm going too. I'm sorry, but I've had enough freaky stuff for one night." Ava explained.

"Thank you for having me. I'll take it from here." Bonnie said.

"Where are you going?" Malia demanded, her hand gripping the railing so tightly it was a wonder it didn't break.

"Back to where it all began."

"Bonnie! Bonnie! Emily!" Elena yelled. Bonnie stopped and smiled ever-so-slightly at Elena.

"I won't let him have it. It must be destroyed."

"Wait!" Malia and Elena chased Emily down the stairs but the witch was already out the door. The door shut behind her and, as the twins tried to open it, they found that they couldn't.

"What's happening?" Caroline demanded as she, Jess and Ava caught up to them at the bottom of the stairs.

"The door! It's not-." The door swung open. Ava, Caroline and Elena screamed, jumping back. Jess let out a higher pitched shriek, grabbing at Caroline's arm, as if for protection. Malia was in mid-swing to punch the figure before she realized it was Jeremy.

"What is going on?!" He demanded as Malia dropped her arm.

"I'm outta here!" Caroline and Jess sprinted from the house. Ava hugged Jeremy.

"I've never been so glad to see someone that's not trying to kill me!" She cried. He let her hang on him for a moment, completely and utterly confused.

"What have you guys been doing?" He asked. Malia started out of the house, wearing her infamous 'about to kill someone' expression.

"I'll go after Bonnie."


	15. Ghost Hunters

**A/N The last part of 'History Repeating'. This is probably the shortest chapter yet, but I didn't want to squeeze both chapters into one.**

* * *

Malia trooped through the woods, still wondering what on Earth has possessed her and convinced her to allow Caroline to do something as stupid as a séance. She could smell blood up ahead and picked up the pace, only to find Damon impaled by a tree branch.

"Are you gonna help?" He moaned.

"I could just leave you." She pointed out.

"It hurts. Get me off." He commanded.

"I'm not at your beck and call, Damon. In fact, I'm even more tempted to leave you here now."

"Oh, come on, Gilbert Barbie!"

"You look truly pathetic." She grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him off the tree branch.

"It hurts…" He moaned again.

"Good." She growled. Elena and Stefan walked over to them. Malia looked up and motioned at the tree.

"He was hurt _before_ I got here."

"Doesn't matter." Stefan brushed off the subject as if it was completely irrelevant, causing Malia to smirk. The four of them continued on into a nearby clearing. Emily was standing in the middle of the clearing and was obviously expecting them.

"Stefan."

"Hello, Emily."

"These people don't deserve this. They should never have to know such evil."

"What evil? If you mean Damon, you missed his heart." Malia reminded her. Damon was glaring at Emily.

"Emily, I swear, I'll make you regret this!"

"I won't let you unleash them into this world." Emily continued.

"Them? What part of the story did you leave out, Damon?" Stefan demanded.

"What does it matter?"

"Emily, tell me what you did." Stefan demanded.

"To save her, I had to save them."

"You saved everyone in the church?"

"With one, comes all."

"The vampires that burned to death in Fell's Church?" Malia asked, looking between Emily and Stefan. Emily nodded to her.

"I don't care about them. I just want Katherine." Damon protested.

"I knew I shouldn't have believed a single word that comes out of your mouth. This isn't about love, is it? This is about revenge." Stefan growled.

"The two aren't mutually exclusive." Damon shrugged.

"Damon, you can't do this!"

"Why not? They killed twenty seven people and they called it a war battle. They deserve whatever they get."

"Twenty-seven vampires, Damon. They were vampires. You can't just bring them back." Stefan protested.

"This town deserves this." Damon shouted.

"You're blaming innocent people for something that happened a hundred and forty-five years ago."

"There is nothing innocent about these people, and don't think for a second it won't happen again. They already know too much, and they'll burn your little grand-witch right next to us when they find out. Trust me." Damon aimed his comments at Emily this time.

"Things are different now."

"Don't do this."

"I can't free them. I won't. Incendia!" The pentagram she stood in caught fire. Everyone stumbled back from it.

"No, please!" Damon shouted. Emily threw the necklace into the air and it exploded above them. The flames died off. Bonnie looked around, confused. Damon darted forward and feed on her. Malia and Stefan rushed over and pulled him off her. Stefan kneeled down to check her pulse.

"She's alive, but barely. I can save her." Stefan fed Bonnie his blood. Elena watched in shock.

"Her neck, it's healing." A few feet away, Malia and Damon were going at it like rabid dogs. Damon had strength on his side, but Malia was severely ticked off.

"Malia!" Elena yelled at her sister, but it didn't do anything. Damon threw Malia to the ground and she landed hard. Stefan ran to get in the middle of them. Damon darted off. Malia shook Stefan's hand off her shoulder as he tried to help her up.

"If I had a stake right now-!"

"What happened?" Bonnie sat up and looked around, confused. Malia tossed her hair over her shoulder, staring the direction Damon had gone.

"I'm going to the Boarding House. If he's there, I won't be responsible for what happens to him." Before Stefan could grab her, she darted away. Bonnie gasped, moving closer to Elena. Elena and Stefan looked at each other before she turned to Bonnie.

"Bonnie, I need to tell you something…"

* * *

The wind caused a branch to hit Jess's window and she jumped, whirling around. Then she shook her head at herself. _There are no such thing as ghosts, get over it,_ she told herself. The slumber party was a bust, but she was relieved that they had given it a try and that everyone's friendships were on the mend.

"You still awake?" Caroline called through the door. If she had been asleep, she would've been woken up by that.

"Yeah, come on in." Jess called back. Caroline stepped into the room, now wearing her pajamas. Jess finished putting her hair back in a braid and looked at her.

"Elena called. Bonnie's freaked out but she's okay and staying with her Grams. Malia and Ava are staying at Stefan's house… So no more slumber party tonight. That's a bummer."

"You shouldn't have done that séance, Caroline." Jess told her.

"I just wanted to have fun."

"Next time, let's have fun by watching a movie and eating popcorn."

"You know, I distinctly remember seeing popcorn in the cabinet and we _do have_ a lot of movies in the living room…" Caroline hinted not so subtly.

"And I distinctly remember that Forbes slumber parties are the best kind." Jess agreed thoughtfully. Caroline grinned and grabbed her hand.

"Let's go!"

* * *

Ava walked into Stefan's room and saw he was still awake, writing in his journal at his desk.

"Malia said that Bonnie's going to be okay?"

"Yeah, she'll be okay." He assured her. She sat down on the edge of the bed, tapping her feet against the hard wood floor.

"I would like to have one slumber party without it ending with people almost getting killed."

"I think you're living in the wrong town." 

"Don't I know it?" She mumbled tiredly. _Maybe that's why mom ran off,_ she thought to herself. She knew her mom had left her in the care of Zach because she didn't want to be a Salvatore, she didn't want to be in danger from Damon. Still, Ava was starting to wonder what her life would've been like if her mom had taken her with her. She wouldn't know about vampires or witches or ghosts or doppelgangers… But then again, that would make her life pretty boring. She got up and started to walk out of the room but then stopped and turned back to him.

"But, for what it's worth, I'm glad you came to live here."


	16. The Promise of the Future

**A/N This is the full episode of 'The Turning Point'.**

* * *

Stefan strode into the living room where Damon was staring out the window.

"So any idea of where you'll go?"

"I don't know. London, maybe. See some friends."

"You don't have any friends, Damon." Stefan told him with a sigh.

"You're right, Stefan. I only have you. So, where are we going?" Damon turned around to face him with a smile.

" _We_ are not going anywhere. I'm gonna live my life as far away from you as possible."

"But we're a team! We could travel the world together. We could try out for 'The Amazing Race'." Damon suggested.

"Hmm, that's funny. Seriously, where are you going? Because we are not staying in this town." The doorbell rang, interrupting any further conversation. Stefan went to answer it, slightly surprised to see Sheriff Forbes standing on the porch.

"I'm here to see Damon."

"Uh, sure."

"Sheriff, what a surprise." Damon came to the doorway.

"Sorry to bother you, but we need to talk."

"Come in." Damon shut the door behind her and led her out to the backyard. Stefan was about to listen in when another voice caught his attention.

"You're leaving?" He turned towards Ava, who was standing in the doorway that led into the dining room.

"I can't put Elena, or anyone else in this town, in any more danger."

"And what about me? Zach's dead. I don't have anyone I can stay with. I'm not eighteen. I can't stay here alone. I am not going to just show up at Elena's doorstep and hope to move in. Nor will I do that to Jess! What was your grand plan about me, Stefan?" She cried, her voice getting higher pitched with each word. Stefan glanced towards the backyard where the Sheriff and Damon were and then darted over to her, pulling her deeper into the massive house.

"Stefan, what am I going to do?" She asked, struggling to keep her voice down as they entered the kitchen.

"Do you really want to live with vampires for the rest of your life? If you stay with me, we're going to be moving every couple of years, dodging vampire hunters and lying through our teeth. That's not what you want and you know it." He told her.

"What I want is to stay with you and if all that comes with living with _my family_ , so be it!"

"Malia is going to live with her family again, maybe even explain that she's a vampire. I'm sure that you can live with them and-."

"I don't want to live with them, Stefan! Please." She pleaded, grabbing hold of his hand. The front door opened and shut. Stefan looked towards the living room and then back at her.

"If we leave, we're not coming back here."

"I know." She was short and serious with her answer for the first time in a while. He gave her hand a squeeze.

"We're leaving in the next couple of days, make sure you're ready." She nodded and he left her in the kitchen, going to Damon.

"You killed somebody?!" He grabbed Damon by the shirt, pushing him up against the door.

"Oh, so you _were_ listening. Get off of me. A, don't touch me. B, if I had, I wouldn't have been so obvious about it. C, there's another vampire in town." Damon explained.

"That's impossible."

"Obviously not."

"Then, who could it be?"

"Ah, what do we care? We're leaving anyway, right?" Damon asked with his infamous smirk.

"No, I can't leave now and you know that. How are we supposed to find this person?" Stefan asked.

"Let the adults handle this, Stefan." Damon told him as he left the room.

* * *

The Career Fair at the school was in full swing. Jess stared at the stand in front of her, wishfully thinking about her future. Caroline walked over to her.

"Professional photographer?" Caroline read aloud.

"A picture is worth a thousand words."

"You don't have a camera yet, do you?" Caroline asked. The word 'yet' wasn't lost of Jess; Caroline had her thoughtful I'm-going-to-make-it-happen expression.

"No, I just thought it might be interesting. I'm also looking at these…" Jess pulled Caroline by the sleeve over to another stand.

"Veterinarian. Of course, you animal-lover." Caroline said with a smile.

"Or…" Jess pulled her sister to a third stand.

"Counselor." Caroline read, nodding to herself. Jess looked at her, awaiting the opinion she was undoubtedly about to hear.

"So either you'll capture the beauty of the word, or you'll help heal what you love in the world or you'll help heal people where doctors can't… And knowing you, you'll find a way to do all three." Caroline told her with a smile.

"So it's not stupid that I have no clue what I want to do?"

"You've got time to figure out." Caroline assured her, squeezing her shoulders.

"So what do you want to do? Let me guess… Modeling? Acting?" Jess asked.

"It does involve being in front of a camera. Come on, let's get mom and I'll show you both."

* * *

Ava ducked through the crowd, pulling Stefan along by the sleeve behind her. Once she found the stand she was looking for, she stopped him and pointed it out.

"Graphic design. Looks fun, huh? I'll have to support myself eventually but I want to do something that I like. Hey." She leaned in to whisper to him.

"How do vampires makes money anyway?"

"Compulsion and interest through the bank." He whispered back.

"Ah…" He looked past her down the hallway and spotted Logan Fell. He frowned and leaned in to whisper to her again.

"Stay here."

"What's going on?"

"Vampire." Her eyes widened, but other than that she gave the people around them no sign that something was wrong.

"I'll stay here."

* * *

Jenna weaved her way through the crowd, following the teenaged blonde girl that seemed intent on avoiding her.

"Malia!" She called out. Malia stopped and turned around.

"Jenna, hey. I didn't know you were here."

"Yeah, of course you didn't. It's not like you saw me and turned tail and ran. What the heck is going on with you? You haven't been home in weeks."

"I've been staying with Ava." Malia tried to shrug it off. Jenna folded her arms across her chest.

"What, am I not being a good enough aunt for you? You think that living with someone else is better? You're not even taking your medication!" Jenna didn't even care that they were in a crowd anymore. She may not have had much maternal instinct, but she did have a limit to what she was going to let her niece get away with.

"I'm not having panic attacks anymore." Malia said simply.

"And not living with us? What did I do wrong, Malia?"

"Nothing. I just had some problems I had to work out."

"Like what? I've been worried sick about you and no one has been able to give me a straight answer about where you've been or what you've been doing."

"I was staying with Ava, working out some problems." Malia told her.

"I am at the end of my rope and you are tugging on it, Malia!"

"Jenna, are you dodging me?" Logan Fell walked over to them with a smile. Malia tensed, staring at him.

"Logan, I am so not in the mood right now." Jenna warned, not daring to take her eyes off Malia. Stefan and Elena walked over to them.

"Um, Elena, why don't you and Jenna go somewhere else?" Stefan suggested, giving Elena a look.

"Let's go." Elena started to pull Jenna away, but Jenna caught hold of Malia's arm.

"Let's all talk about this somewhere else." Malia looked at Stefan. He nodded. She walked away with Jenna.

"When Logan came to the house, what did he say?" Elena demanded, stopping to face Jenna.

"What? Fake flattery. Stupid, dimpled grin. Puppy dog eyes." Jenna explained with a shrug.

"I'm serious, Jenna. How did he act? What did he say?"

"He was the usual Logan, was charming, a little more manic than usual. He kept trying to convince me to let him in. What?"

"Okay, listen to me very carefully. Do not, under any circumstances, talk to him again. I'm serious, Jenna, like ever!" Elena told her.

"I want to know what's going on with both of you?" Before they could answer, Alaric walked over to them.

"Hey, Elena, Jenna. And who's this?" He asked, looking at Malia.

"A girl who should be in your class." Jenna shot Malia a look.

"This is my sister, Malia." Alaric and Malia shook hands.

"Well, I hope you see you Monday." _Well, you'll be disappointed,_ Malia thought to herself.

"Excuse me." Malia walked past Alaric.

"You better be home tonight!" Jenna yelled after her.

* * *

Caroline led Jess and Liz the booth she'd found earlier.

"What are you doing?" Liz asked, sounding annoyed.

"Following my future. There it is." Caroline pointed at the banner hanging above the booth.

"Broadcast journalism?"

"Yes. Broadcast journalism. Why are you looking at me like that?" Caroline demanded, catching her mother's skeptical look.

"You don't even read the paper."

"That's the point, mom. Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journalism that is published by electrical methods, instead of the older methods like newspapers." Jess protested.

"This is why I love having a sister that's smart, thank you!" Caroline told her. Liz just sighed, with that skeptical look on her face. Caroline stomped away. Jess made to follow her, but then turned back to Liz.

"You know, you could at least pretend to care sometimes. It might be a nice change for all three of us." Then she turned and ran after Caroline.

* * *

Ava had read through every single flyer on graphic design at the booth. Twice. _What am I supposed to do, wait for Stefan to come back?_ She wondered. She turned away from the booth and looked around. _I'll just look around, wait for Stefan to find me,_ she told herself. She turned around the corner and could immediately hear the sounds of a fight. She hesitated, but it sounded like a normal teenager brawl, not a vampire fight. She hurried forward and caught sight of Jeremy and Tyler going at it.

"Jeremy, don't!" She rushed forward. Jeremy ducked out of the way of a punch and Tyler caught her in the face instead. She hit the floor hard, her head swimming. Alaric and Mayor Lockwood rushed over to break up the fight.

"Ava, you alright?" Alaric helped her to her feet. She held her bloody nose and managed a nod.

"You two, follow me." Mayor Lockwood ordered. Jeremy and Tyler started to follow but Alaric called after them, stopping them.

"Excuse me, Mayor. Where are you taking them?"

"I'm gonna talk to them. All fights should end in handshakes, don't you think? Come on, boys." Ava and Alaric exchanged looks. Alaric headed after them and Ava jogged to keep up.

"Maybe you should stay inside." He suggested.

"I just want to watch out for Jeremy." Her voice was slightly distorted since she was talking through her sleeve as she held her nose. Alaric pushed open the door to the back parking lot, holding it open so that Ava could follow.

"Okay, let's get this out of your system. Go ahead, fight." Mayor Lockwood was telling Jeremy and Tyler.

"You want us to what?"

"I'm not gonna fight him, dad."

"I don't think so, sir." Jeremy started to leave, but the Mayor blocked his path.

"You don't fight in there like pansies. You take it outside, fight your battles like men and move on. Best lesson my dad taught me. So let's settle it. Fight."

"Come on, dad." Tyler protested.

"That's not gonna happen."

"I said fight!" Mayor Lockwood pushed Tyler into Jeremy, hard. Alaric hurried over to them.

"Whoa. What's going on out here?" He asked, as if he hadn't seen the whole thing.

"Just letting these two kids work it out. We're good here. Go back inside."

"I don't wanna go back inside. What I want is an answer to my question. What's going on out here?" Ava went to stand by Jeremy and the three teens watched the two men wearily, just waiting for the fight to break out.

"Who do you think you're talking to? Do I look like a student?"

"No. You look like a full grown alpha male-." Ava's eyes widened at Alaric's next word and glanced at Jeremy and Tyler. Jeremy was smirking and Tyler looked shoved.

"You don't talk to me like that. I can have your job like this." The Mayor snapped his fingers for emphasis.

"Ah, you do that. Then it will be you and me in this parking lot, working things out. You cool with that?" Alaric asked.

"You just marked yourself."

"Okay." Tyler and the Mayor walked away. Alaric turned to Jeremy.

"You alright?" Jeremy nodded, still smirking. Alaric turned and went back inside the school. Jeremy looked over at Ava.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I think so." She mumbled. Jeremy pulled her hand away from her nose to examine it.

"It's not broken."

"It feels like it is."

"You'd better put some ice on that when you get home." He suggested. She nodded in agreement. He nodded towards the school.

"Come on, let's go back inside."

* * *

Matt turned at the sound of his name and Jess ran over to him.

"Have you seen Caroline?"

"Yeah, I just told Stefan that she left with Logan Fell. He's giving her a ride home." He explained.

"Thanks." Jess told him, frowning. She readjusted her bag on her shoulder and headed for the parking lot.

"Hey, you need a ride home?" Matt called after her. She stopped and turned around.

"Would you?"

"Come on. They went out to the parking lot and headed over to Matt's truck. Tyler was waiting for them.

"I need a ride."

"Sure, get in the Matt Donovan Express." He said airily. He opened the driver's side door and unlocked the passenger side. Tyler opened the passenger door and let Jess get in first. She mumbled her thanks and crawled into the middle seat. Matt started the truck but turned to Tyler before he did anything else.

"Look, I like Caroline. She's got this thing… this way about her… and I like her, okay? And I'm not gonna defend it or apologize about it."

"Okay." Tyler said simply.

"Well, this is awkward." Jess put in. Matt pulled out of the parking lot and drove towards Jess's house. When he pulled up on the curb, Jess leaned past Tyler to examine the house. All the lights were still off.

"I think I beat Caroline home."

"You want us to stay with you?" Matt asked, looking around the suspiciously dark neighborhood.

"I'll be fine." She assured him. Off his look and the face that neither one of the boys moved to let her out, she continued:

"I'll lock the door behind me."

"Fine." Matt finally agreed. Tyler got out of the truck and held the door open for her to get out.

"Thanks for the escort home. If I ever need a bodyguard, I know who to call." She teased them.

"Hey, cute thing like you, you're going to want a tough boyfriend to protect you." Tyler told her.

"Is that an offer?"

"Friendly advice." He corrected her. She rolled her eyes and headed into the house, obediently locking the door behind her. She made her way to her bedroom, tossing her jacket and bag on the bed. She was just kicking off her sandals when she heard a knock at the door.

"Matt, Tyler, I'm fine!" She called as she headed for the door.

"You don't need to-." She pulled open the door and stopped abruptly. Stefan was holding an unconscious Caroline in his arms.

"What happened?" She demanded.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah, yeah, come on." Jess side-stepped out of his way and he carried Caroline inside. Jess shut the door behind them and then directed Stefan to Caroline's bedroom. Once she was on the bed, Jess turned to Stefan again.

"What happened?" She repeated.

"Logan Fell happened. He wasn't who we thought he was. She'll be okay." He assured her. Jess took a calming breath and nodded. _Over-reacting will only make this worse,_ she reminded herself.

"I'm going to go." Stefan added.

"Thank you." He showed himself out as Jess sat down next to her sister. Slowly, Caroline regained consciousness.

"Ugh… What happened?"

"Something with Logan Fell?" Jess tried to get her to remember something. Caroline frowned.

"I don't know what happened."

"Well, you're home now." Jess assured her. Liz rushed into the room and breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're okay."

"I'm okay." Caroline mumbled, burying her face in her pillow.

"Did you catch Logan Fell?" Jess asked.

"Not yet, but we will."

* * *

Malia was sitting on the porch of the Salvatore Boarding house, staring up at the full moon above her. Ava quietly joined her, twirling her key ring around her finger. Stefan had caught a ride home with Elena so she was left to drive herself home. Malia had mostly likely run all the way home.

"Jenna hates me."

"No, she doesn't. She loves you. Remember that time when we were ten and we broke your mom's lamp but Jenna said it was her fault because she didn't want you to get punished?"

"This is different."

"She doesn't hate you." Ava told her firmly. The front door swung open and Elena burst out, crying.

"Elena?" Malia stood up but Elena just ran to her car and drove off. The friends exchanged confused looks.

"What did Stefan do?"

"How do you know it's Stefan?" Ava protested.

"Because Damon's not here and she's the one crying."

"Oh, right." Stefan hurried out onto the porch, holding a familiar photograph in his hands. Malia and Ava looked over at him.

"She found out she looks like your ex?" Malia asked, even though she already knew the answer. Stefan nodded.

"She found out."


	17. The Hard Truth

**A/N This the full episode of 'Bloodlines'**

* * *

Malia paced in Stefan's bedroom at the Boarding House, texting Elena for the hundredth time. She had little hope of getting a reply at this point, because Damon had Elena's phone last time Stefan called her.

"Okay, explain to me why you would date Elena when she looked exactly like Katherine." She told him, looking up from her phone. He was pacing alongside her and, had they not been worrying about Elena, she might have found it a bit comical.

"I didn't date her for her looks."

"Obviously I'm the better looking twin, but that was harsh."

"That wasn't what I meant." He snapped, running a hand through his hair.

"Is that why you saved us from the car crash? Because you thought she was Katherine?" Malia asked after a minute.

"I saved you and you don't look anything like Katherine." He pointed out dryly. She smiled, though her eyes were still stone cold and staring at Stefan.

"Don't let anyone tell you that you don't have a sense of humor. But this whole conversation begs the question of _how_ she looks like Katherine." He didn't answer. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"You know."

"Yes."

"Care to share with the group?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest. They had both stopped pacing and were looking at each other.

"It didn't make any sense to me at first. She's a Gilbert, Katherine was a Pierce. But the resemblance was too similar."

"We've already gone over this. Stop stalling." Malia ordered. He took a deep breath, running his hand through his hair again.

"You and Elena were adopted." He gave her a minute to let the information sink in. She blinked a couple of times and turned away from him and tugged on the bottom of her tank top.

"How do you know this? What's the proof? Give me something to work with here." She ordered, turning around to look at him again.

"Your birth certificate, it says-."

"Malia Jenna Gilbert, born on June 22nd, 1992 at 7:00 p.m, twenty minutes after Elena. I've seen it. It's not a fake." Malia interrupted.

"It also says you were born in Mystic Falls General. But there's no record of your mother ever being admitted, there's no record of her ever being pregnant."

"What else do you know?" Malia demanded.

"For me to go any further I would've had to look into the Pierce family and I couldn't do that, too risky."

"So I'm not related to Jeremy or Jenna?"

"I don't think so." Malia nodded once and then ran from the room.

* * *

It was late when Elena finally walked into the Salvatore Boarding house again. Her trip with Damon in Georgia had been exhilarating, but there was something comforting about being back in the Boarding House. Stefan bounded down the stairs to meet her. They hugged each other and then Elena pulled away to look at him.

"Tell me how I look like Katherine." Malia came downstairs, her bare feet slapping against the hardwood stairs.

"Elena!"

"Hey, I-." Malia interrupted her with a hug. Although surprised, Elena hugged her back. After Malia pulled away, Stefan led Elena upstairs to talk. Damon came into the house and shut the door behind him.

"Hey, Gilbert Barbie." He threw something at her and she caught it an inch away from her face.

"What is it?" She turned the object over in her hand and saw it was a matchbox that had the logo Bree's Bar printed on it.

"Oh, a cheep souvenir from wherever you dragged my twin off to against her will... Gee, thanks." She said sarcastically, shaking it for emphasis. She heard a rattling sound inside. She slowly opened it and poured the contents into her hand. It was a ring with a small blue stone in the center.

"Is this a-?"

"Daylight ring? Yep. Enjoy. Go, fly, be free, whatever." Damon said with a roll of his eyes, going into the living room to pour himself some scotch. Malia quickly slipped it onto her finger.

"And this is a daylight ring, right? Not just some cruel prank?"

"If it was a cruel prank, I'd give it to you in the daytime and watch you run outside immediately." He pointed out.

"Well, thank you."

"Was that hard to say?"

"To you, yes. Where'd you get it?"

"I had a witch friend of mine make it for you. You're welcome." He sipped at his drink, his back to her.

"Did you ever do any research about Katherine, Elena and me being related?" Malia asked. She had to know how many people had figured out she was adopted.

"Nope." Damon said carelessly; he obviously didn't care about the conversation. Malia twisted her ring around her finger.

"We were adopted." Damon was silent for a minute.

"And your parents didn't tell you?"

"Nope."

"That sucks. Well, at least you don't have to claim blood relation to that punk you thought was your brother anymore." He told her with a smirk. She rolled her eyes; why was she under the impression that he would care?

"I'm going home now." With a daylight ring, she didn't have to hide inside all day. She could go home, go back to her life… Seeing Jeremy was something she could stand to do after so long. Jenna would chew her out, but she was fairly certain that they would get over it.

"Oh, you'll come running back to get blood from my freezer." Damon called.

"Well, I can't have it in my freezer, so yes, I will." Malia agreed. She went up to her bedroom, which she had gotten all too familiar with in the past weeks. Ava was waiting for her.

"You're going back home?"

"You heard that?"

"Yeah. I thought I could help you pack."

"Eager to get rid of me, huh?" Malia teased.

"No! I just thought I'd be helpful. I mean, Stefan and I aren't leaving and I was all excited to pack something."

"Nice save." Malia said sarcastically. Ava rolled her eyes as Malia pulled her backpack out of her closet and started shoving clothes into it. It about a minute with vampire speed and when she was done, she turned back to Ava.

"Glad I could help." The Salvatore girl said sarcastically. Malia went to hug her.

"Thanks for everything."

"Of course." Malia shouldered her backpack and hurried downstairs. The more she thought about it, the more eager she was to get back home. She was halfway out the door when Elena came down the stairs, wiping at her eyes. Malia stopped and waited for her.

"My car's totaled. Can Ava give us a ride home?"

"Still mad at Stefan?" Malia asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"No, I… I just want a quiet ride home."

"She's my best friend and I adore her, but 'quiet' is not in her dictionary. Give me your hand." Malia held her hand and snapped her fingers impatiently when Elena didn't immediately obey. Elena gave her a suspicious look but took her hand. Malia pulled Elena over to her side and ran off with vampire speed. Elena looked around in shock when she saw that they were on the porch of their house a split second later.

"Perks of a being a vampire." Malia said with a shrug. Elena let out a small, surprised laugh and then opened the door. Jenna stood up from the couch as they walked in.

"I don't set a lot of rules, Elena. Not with you. I trust you to tell me the truth. Where were you? Why would you lie to me about it? I thought we were closer than that." Any happiness that Elena had received by the vampire joyride was gone in an instant.

"Now is not the time you want to talk to me about lies."

"Don't do that. Don't turn this back on me. I didn't do anything!" Elena started up the staircase and Malia followed. Then Malia stopped and turned back. Elena paused a few steps above, looking down on her and Jenna.

"Okay… I have a question for you."

"Well, I have some questions for you too." Jenna shot back, folding her arms across her chest.

"Are Elena and I adopted?" Malia asked, leaning against the staircase railing. Jenna looked at her, shocked.

"I trust you to tell me the truth too, Jenna. How could you not tell us? I thought we were closer than that." Elena mocked her.

"I didn't… They asked me not to." Jenna sputtered.

"I don't want to hear it." Elena turned and hurried up to her bedroom. Malia patted the railing.

"So good to be home…" She mumbled under her breath before hurrying upstairs. Jenna wisely didn't follow them. Malia walked over to Jeremy's door and knocked on it.

"I'm studying, can it wait, Jenna?" Jeremy called back.

"I'm not Jenna." Malia told him through the door. There was the sound of rushed footsteps and then the door was yanked open.

"I'm home."

"I can see that. For how long?" Jeremy asked suspiciously.

"Depends on when I decide to go to college. I mean, I'm thinking a year off between high school and college but I haven't made my decision yet." Jeremy smiled and pulled her into a hug.

"Alright, I have to talk to you." She pushed him to the room and shut the door. The bathroom door was shut, so there was no chance anyone was going to hear them. She flopped down on his desk chair and he took a seat on the edge of his bed.

"What did mom and dad tell you and me and Elena?"

"What?" Jeremy asked.

"Did they ever tell you something that you couldn't tell us?"

"If you're searching for what your birthday present is, you're a little late."

"Did they tell you that Elena and I were adopted?" Malia asked, annoyed. He stared at her, open mouthed.

"I'll take that as a no… surprise!" She said halfheartedly. She got up and sat down next to him on his bed. He looked over at her.

"So we're not actually related?"

"Probably not."

"Makes sense." He said, nodding as if everything was right in the world.

"What?" Malia asked, glaring at him.

"I mean, I was always the favorite child, so-." She smacked him on the arm.

"Ow! When did you get so strong?" He demanded, rubbing the sore spot. She mentally kicked herself.

"Sorry." She got up, shouldering her backpack again.

"Yeah, well, I'm going to bed." She started to walk out of the room but then turned back to him.

"Does it bother you that we're not actually related?" She asked seriously. Jeremy just shook his head and flopped back against his pillows.

"Oh, don't worry, you're still my sister. I've put too much effort into liking you to just let it go."

"It's hard to like me?"

"Extremely." Malia rolled her eyes and left the room. She went up to her attic bedroom and dumped her backpack on the bed. She sighed, looking around the room. It was good to be home.


	18. The Nifty Fifties

**A/N This is the full episode of 'Unpleasantville'.**

* * *

Caroline, Elena, Ava and Jess walked through the front yard of the school. Caroline kept fingering her new necklace as Jess twisted her new bracelet around on her wrist.

"It's so pretty! Thank you. It'll go with, like, everything. What's the occasion?" Caroline asked.

"No occasion, just a little friend gift." Elena said. They sat down at one of the picnic tables.

"A lesbian friend gift? Cause we're freaky like that?" Caroline asked, winking sarcastically.

"Your friend is important to me."

"Why are you being so mushy?" Caroline asked, laughing.

"Because you've been avoiding me and I wanted you to know that whatever is going on with you and Matt, it's okay."

"I was going to talk to you about that. I was, but there's just not much to say. You know, we've hung out a couple times. That's it, but… I just feel like we've peaked as friends. This is weird. I shouldn't be talking to you about this. It's weird. It's weird, right?"

"It's a little weird, but if it's what you and Matt want, then it's not about me." Elena assured her.

"But it's all about you. Matt's not over you and we all know it."

"I'm with Stefan now. Matt understands that. He knows he has to move on." Elena focused on unwrapping her sandwich. Caroline raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. Jess turned to Ava.

"I'm not dating your ex-boyfriend… What's your excuse for this?" Jess shook her wrist, causing the bracelet to jingle. Ava laughed, nearly choking on her water, before she answered.

"Malia and I have been ignoring you lately and I wanted to apologize."

"Good excuse." Jess told her, nodding in approval. Malia walked over and sat down next to them, gritting her teeth.

"You miss a couple of weeks and suddenly all your teachers are lecturing you about how much you've missed. This is why I don't like school." She complained.

"Oh, cute ring." Jess said, motioning to Malia hand. Malia glanced down at her daylight ring. _It'd better be cute, I'm not taking it off again,_ she thought bitterly.

"Thanks."

"So are we going to that Decade Dance or what?" Caroline asked, stabbing at her salad with a wide smile.

"I don't have a choice, so you guys better be there." Jess told them. Caroline rolled her eyes.

"You make it sound like I command you to go to parties and dances."

"You do."

"Well, you don't have to tell everyone…"

* * *

Elena and Malia walked into the kitchen. Malia was already dressed in her fifties garb: a black halter-top dress with black high-heeled sandals. Elena was still in her own jeans and t-shirt. Jenna was straightening up the dinning room, but she stopped when she caught sight of the girls.

"I spoke to the insurance company. Car's totaled. You can keep using mine for now." She told Elena. Elena paused and eyed Jenna's own fifties style outfit.

"You're coming to the dance?"

"Alaric asked me to help chaperone."

"Why didn't you tell us, Jenna?" Malia asked. Elena sighed; of course she would just come out and ask. Subtly was never Malia's strong suit.

"Your mom was going to do it eventually. I never thought I'd have to."

"If mom was here right now and we asked, she'd tell us the truth." Malia pointed out, sitting on top of the island counter. Jenna took a deep breath before she started.

"Your dad was about to leave the office one night when this girl showed up. She was sixteen, a runaway, about to give birth. He delivered her twins and he gave her a place to stay, but a few days later, she disappeared. And there you two were. Your parents were trying to so hard to have a baby. It just wasn't happening. All Miranda ever wanted was to be a mom."

"Well, why are my parents names on the birth certificate?" Elena asked.

"Your dad was a doctor. He took care of it. They didn't want to lose you two, so they kept it quiet, told as few people as possible, but if anyone ever wanted proof, they had documentation."

"What do you know about her? Our birth mother?" Malia asked.

"Just her name. Isobel." Elena nodded and then walked towards the stairs.

"I'm going to go get dressed." She hurried up the stairs, leaving Jenna and Malia in the kitchen.

"Was Jeremy adopted too?" Malia asked after a minute. Jenna shook her head.

"No, he's their biological son… Did you tell him about everything?"

"Of course." Malia said simply. Jenna nodded, picking her purse up from where it sat on one of the chairs.

"Of course you did." She agreed. Headlights flashed through the window and Jenna turned around.

"Alaric's here to pick me up. Take my car to the dance whenever you're ready." Jenna tossed Malia her keys and then hurried out the front door. Malia hopped off the island and went up to her bedroom. She dug through her closet and grabbed a black purse before throwing her phone and wallet inside. She heard light footsteps in the living room. She crept downstairs to the second floor.

"Elena?" She whispered. Elena rushed out of her bedroom, holding the vampire compass in her palm. The compass whirled, pointing at Malia and then towards the stairs. Malia put a finger to her lips as Elena put her phone to her ear.

" _Stefan's phone, how many I help you?_ " Damon's voice came.

"Where is he?" Elena hissed. Malia headed down the stairs and Elena kept close to her.

" _He's on his way to you, forgot his phone._ " Elena stopped in the living room as Malia kept going to investigate the kitchen.

"The compass was spinning. Stefan must be here. Thank you."

" _You're welcome._ " Malia stopped in the kitchen, frowned and turned around. The compass in Elena's hand kept whirring around, never pointing in one direction for more than a second at a time.

"Elena, come here." She ordered. Although confused, Elena walked over to her.

"Stay here." Malia walked underneath the archway to the living room and looked up. A hooded figure jumped down, landing in front of her. Malia swung at him, but he caught her arm, twisted it and threw her to the floor. Elena shrieked, but stayed back. The vampire went towards Elena. In a blur of speed, Stefan appeared and threw him over the couch. The vampire got up and darted out of the house.

"Are you okay?" Stefan asked, pulling Elena into a hug. Elena looked over at Malia as she pushed herself up from the floor.

"Are you okay?"

"One sec, I'll get back to you." Malia slammed her shoulder into the wall and it popped back into place with an audible cracking sound. Elena flinched.

"I'm good." Malia assured her. Stefan stepped away from them to call Damon. Within minutes, Damon was in the living room with them.

"How did he get in?" Damon demanded.

"He was invited in. He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night." Elena explained. She was sitting on the couch, hugging herself.

"Well, he gets points for that. Did he say what he wanted?"

"He was too busy hiding on the ceiling and trying to kill us." Malia told him, rolling her eyes.

"And you have no idea who this is?" Stefan asked.

"No." Damon told him. Stefan shot him a look.

"Don't look at me like that. I told you we had company.'

"You think there's more than one?" Elena asked, looking up.

"We don't know." Damon admitted, sitting on the arm of the couch.

"Damon, he was invited in." Stefan told him. Damon nodded in agreement.

"Then we go get him tonight. You up for it?" He asked Elena.

"What do I have to do?"

"Let your boyfriend take you to the dance. We'll see who shows up."

"That's a bad idea." Stefan warned.

"Well, until we get him, this house isn't safe for _anyone_ who lives in it. That vampire was a lot stronger than me. I can't protect my family here." Malia pointed out, pacing behind the couch.

"I'll do it." Elena agreed. Damon and Stefan looked at her.

"I'll be with the three of you. I'll be safe."

"And we're also going to be late if we don't leave now, so let's go." Malia put in, reaching over the couch to push Elena's shoulder. She grabbed her bag and stood up, taking a deep breath.

"Let's go."

* * *

The Decade Dance was in full swing by the time the quartet got there. Elena looked over at her sister with a worried expression.

"If something goes wrong… scream."

"Gee, thanks."

"Anytime." Elena went to talk to Caroline and Bonnie. Malia looked at Damon as Stefan followed Elena at a distance.

"Behave." She warned.

"Bite me." He shot back. She went over to the punch bowl where Jeremy was stacking paper cups.

"You're desperate for extra credits, aren't you?"

"Mr. Saltzman said this could keep me from failing."

"Well, it's training for your future job at fast food places. Serve me, peasant." She snapped her fingers and held out her hand, turning to look at the couples dancing a few feet away. Elena had managed to get Stefan onto the dance floor, so she would love to see a vampire try to mess with her with Stefan that close to her. Jeremy handed her a cup and she took a drink.

"I spit in that." She nearly choked at his words and he laughed.

"I'm kidding, but your face is hilarious."

"Jerk." She growled at him, putting her cup down. A small, dark haired girl bounded up to them.

"You neglected to mention this was a theme party." She told Jeremy.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her, smiling. Malia looked between them, wondering what was going on.

"Well, seeing as you also neglected to invite me, I took matters into my own hands." She explained, smiling widely.

"You're doing that thing again…" He warned.

"What thing would that be?"

"That thing where you pretend we're dating, even though we're not."

"Oh, you mean stalking. Yeah. Get over yourself. Come on, I've never been to a school dance before. Humor me."

"How about you humor me and introduce me?" Malia asked. Anna seemed to notice her and Jeremy seemed embarrassed, which made her smile.

"Oh, uh, Anna, this is my sister, Malia. Malia, this is Anna." The two girls shook hands.

"Nice to meet you, Anna. Feel free to embarrass, stalk and date him. If you come around sometime I have a butt-load of home movies and pictures. I have to warn you, he's only recently become smart and his face is an improvement. I know, hard to believe." Jeremy came around from the other side of the table and pushed Malia away.

"Go someplace else!"

"And he's moody too!" Malia said, rolling her eyes. Anna laughed and Malia walked away, knowing that Jeremy was glaring at her the whole time.

* * *

Jess made her way through the Grill and found Caroline and Bonnie at a table. She sat down next to her sister, effectively flattening her poofy skirt.

"You ditched me. You dragged me all the way to that dance and then ditched me." She complained. Caroline looked over at her, resting her chin in her hands.

"Yeah, well, tonight was so much better on paper."

"Matt's ignoring her." Bonnie told the younger girl. Jess pulled her hair out of her braid and started playing with the hair-tie.

"So go talk to him and find out what's up."

"You sound like Malia."

"Actually, Malia would go up to him herself, smack him around, drag him back over here and force him to explain himself. I'm not quite at her level of boldness yet."

"Malia's not bold, she's violent." Bonnie protested.

"She thinks of it as the same thing."

"Well, be the non-violent kind of bold and go talk to him. You're just feeling sorry for yourself." Bonnie told Caroline.

"Yeah, this coming from the girl who's been eye-stalking the bartender."

"You're right." Bonnie stood up and walked over to the bar. Caroline and Jess both turned in their seats to watch. Bonnie stopped in front of the bar and started speaking to Ben. It didn't take long before both of them were smiling.

"I think she got herself a date…" Jess whispered.

"Since when does Bonnie Bennett have better luck with boys than me?" Caroline whispered back.

"Why are we whispering?" Jess asked.

"It seems like the right thing to do." Matt walked past their table and Caroline looked up hopefully. He didn't acknowledge their presence.

"Seriously?" Caroline called out.

"I'm gone." Jess started to stand up, but Caroline caught her by the back of her dress, pulling her back down.

"I want a witness for this. Are you mad at me or something?" She demanded of Matt. Jess buried her face in her hands.

"No, care, I'm not mad. I-."

"Well, then why are you being so weird?"

"I'm not. I'm working."

"You're avoiding."

"No, I have a table to clean. You know, that's the kind of thing that washed-up jocks do to make a living." Matt walked away and Caroline sighed. She gave Jess a gentle shake and the red haired girl looked up.

"I had to witness that?"

"I thought he would say something stupid and you could attest to it later but… I'm the one that says stupid stuff." Caroline groaned.

"And I'm just here… waiting for my European boyfriend."

"What kind of European? British or-" Caroline asked.

"Oh, no, don't piggy-back on my boyfriend daydream!" Jess protested. Caroline buried her face in her hands and Jess lied her head down on the table, looking only slightly less miserable.

* * *

Elena and Stefan were off the dance floor, so Malia figured it was safe to go over to them.

"You didn't dance." Elena protested the second her sister joined them.

"These feet are not made for dancing; they're made for kicking vampire-."

"Shush!" Elena looked around worriedly, but no one had heard.

"Elena, _I'm_ the vampire. I know how to keep it a secret." Malia protested. Elena nodded slightly and looked towards the dance floor. Damon had found a girl to dance with and he was getting a little too touchy-feely with her.

"You really can't take him anywhere, can you?" Elena asked.

"Uh, no." Stefan agreed.

"We should get him one of those little dog collars, you know, the kind that zaps him every time he leaves the property." Malia suggested thoughtfully. Elena nudged Stefan's arm.

"Stefan, the back corner." She whispered, suddenly serious. Stefan and Malia looked over and saw the hoodie figure.

"Boy, he knows how to blend in." Malia said sarcastically.

"Get Damon." Stefan ordered. He made his way across the room with Malia following as Elena ran to get Damon. The hooded figure left the gym and went into a dark corridor. Malia darted over to him and slammed him into the lockers.

"What did I do?" He asked. Malia yanked the hood off him. It was a teenage boy, not some big tough vampire.

"Where is he?" Stefan demanded.

"I was getting and then this guy gave him his hoodie." Malia released him and he hurried off.

"Elena." Stefan started back towards the gym, but Malia went further into the hallway, listening. There was the sound of someone running and another set of footsteps indicating someone was following. Malia turned back to call to Stefan, but he was already gone. She rolled her shoulders. _Guess it's just me and the vamp._ It wasn't a scary thought, more like an exhilarating one. She darted down the hallways, following the sounds until she found herself in the lunchroom. The vampire was just stumbling back from Elena a pencil in his stomach. Malia darted forward and awarded him a kick in the chest that sent him to the ground. Elena scrambled back, flattening herself against the wall. Malia went over to the mop bucket and snapped the mop in half, creating a stake. She twirled it around her hand like a baton.

"You know, I think you messed with the wrong family. Just a thought." Malia told him. He darted towards her and she went to stab him. He caught her wrist and threw her across the room. She hit the wall with a thump and then hit the floor. He tossed the stake aside and went after her, picking her up from the throat.

"You're just a newbie vampire." He growled. She kicked out and made contact with his knee. He went down into a kneeling position, lowering her onto her feet. She immediately jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his throat and rolled back. They both went to the ground and she was pinning him down with her legs. He shoved her off him and got up.

"I hate you." Malia mumbled, pushing herself back to her feet. The second she was up, she received a punch in the face that sent her back down. In that instant, Stefan appeared and threw him against the wall.

"Nobody wants to kill you, we just wanna talk." Damon picked up the stake from the floor as Elena rushed over to help Malia to her feet.

"I really hate him." She growled. The vampire rushed towards Elena. Damon threw the stake to Stefan, who stabbed the vampire in the stomach. He groaned and fell to his knees. Malia started forward but Stefan held out his arm to stop her.

"Now you feel like talking?" Stefan asked.

"Screw you." Damon walked over and pushed the stake in deeper.

"Wrong answer." Malia told him, smirking. She pushed Stefan's arm aside but didn't get any closer to the older vampire.

"Why are you doing this?" Stefan asked him.

"Because it's fun." Damon pushed the stake in a little bit more.

"What do you want with Elena?" Stefan continued.

"She looks like Katherine."

"You knew Katherine?" Damon demanded.

"Oh, you thought you were the only ones? You don't even remember me."

"Tell me how to get into the tomb, hmm?" Damon asked, leaning over him.

"No." The stake went in a little deeper.

"The grimoire!" The vampire gasped out.

"Where is it?" When they didn't get an answer, Damon pushed the stake in even deeper. The vampire gasped and then hurriedly answered:

"Check the journal, Jonathan's journal. Jonathan Gilbert's."

"Who else is working with you?" Stefan asked.

"Who else is there?" Damon demanded when he didn't answer.

"No. You're gonna have to kill me." Damon rolled his eyes and nodded. Stefan grabbed the stake and pulled it out of his stomach before pushing it into his heart. Elena gasped in shock while Malia just groaned.

"I wanted to do that!"

"You can do the next big bad vampire." Damon promised, smirking.

"What do we… how are we gonna find the others now?" Elena asked.

"He had to die." Damon told her.

"But-."

"Elena, he'd been invited in." Stefan interrupted. They heard a door open and looked around before spotting Alaric coming through one of the windows on the door. Stefan looked over at Damon.

"Go, I got this." Damon nodded and darted off.

* * *

Malia tossed her dress towards her hamper, not caring that she completely missed her target. How long had it been since she'd become a vampire? Not long, yet she was already upset that she wasn't as old as some of the vampires she was facing. She grimaced and collapsed on her bed. Elena came into the room.

"Stefan just left."

"My heart sinks. I feel a physical ache in my chest. I just don't know what I'll do with myself."

"I'm just letting you know we're on our own now." Elena told her, rolling her eyes at her sister's sarcastic dramatics.

"Aren't we always? I saved you from that vampire in the house tonight. And in the school."

"Yes, you did." Elena agreed, going over and sitting on the bed.

"So, still pissed that I'm a vampire?" Malia asked her.

"I'm not pissed, Malia, I'm just… disappointed. You're not going grow up, you're not going be able to have kids… you're going to be stuck at this stage of your life for the rest of eternity…"

"Well, staying eternally young and beautiful isn't exactly a curse and I think we both know I was never the motherly type."

"If there was some mystic vampire cure-."

"Which there isn't."

" _If there were_ … would you take it?" The twins leaned back against the headboard but that was as long as it took for Malia to think about it.

"Not a chance."

"You like being a vampire?" Elena questioned.

"I like being able to defend myself and my family. I'm powerful, I'm fast, I'm strong. I'm-."

"Feeling unstoppable?" Elena suggested.

"Exactly."

"Of course you would love that."

"If it wasn't for the constant bloodlust and having to wear this thing forever-." She held up her hand for Elena to see her daylight ring. "-I would say this is one of the best things that ever happened to me."

"Can you take it off now, since it's not daytime?" Elena asked. Malia slipped it off her finger and handed it over. Elena put it on her own finger and looked at it.

"I don't think you'll be wearing a lapis lazuli ring anytime soon." Malia assured her.

"Or ever, hopefully."

"You know, you're older than me now." Malia pointed out as Elena handed the ring back. Elena thought about it for a second.

"I guess I am… Soon, Jeremy will be older than you too."

"Physically, yes, but chronologically, no." They were silent for a minute.

"Can I stay in here tonight?" Elena finally asked.

"Scared of bumps in the night now?"

"Now that I know what's behind the bumps… yes."

"Well, don't worry. I'm one of those monsters, but I'm here to protect you. Turn off that light, I'm tired." Elena reached over and turned off the lamp. Moonlight streamed in from the window above the bed, giving her enough light to see into the dark corners of the room. She nodded to herself, sure that there was nothing in the house scarier than Malia, and then tried to go to sleep.


	19. Leverage

**A/N This is the full episode of 'Children of the Damned'. Enjoy!**

* * *

Elena pawed through boxes of old family memorabilia. Stefan sat at the breakfast bar, watching her. Ava was on the counter, tapping her blue and white fingers against the granite. Finally, Stefan put his hand over hers to stop the tapping. She rolled her eyes, but stopped.

"Do you think Damon really believes us? That we're trying to help him?" Elena asked, looking over her shoulder at Stefan. He sighed.

"I don't think Damon knows what to believe. Trust isn't something that comes naturally to him."

"You know… I really think that Damon believes that everything he's done, every move that he's made, he's done for love. It's twisted but kind of sad." Elena mused.

"There are other ways to get what you want. You don't have to kill people. Damon has no regard for human life. He enjoys inflicting pain on others. For one hundred and forty five years, every singe time that I have let my guard down and let Damon back into my life, he's done something to make me regret that. I'm not going to make that mistake again."

"When is the last time that you saw Damon, before all of this?"

"Nineteen ninety four." Ava answered for him, frowning just at the mention of the year. Elena stopped and looked back at her.

"You know?"

"I was there. I mean, I don't remember it, but I was there."

"You were two then… Damon was in Mystic Falls when you were two?"

"That was probably the worst time to let Damon back into my life…" Stefan spoke as if talking to himself. Elena didn't press the matter as she turned to go back to the boxes in front of her.

"So what do you think will happen if the tomb gets opened and Damon gets Katherine back?" She asked.

"I think that no matter what Damon promises, a lot of people will die." Elena picked up a photo and Stefan got up to look at it.

"That's Jonathan Gilbert."

"What's this?" Elena opened a wooden box and Stefan looked over her shoulder at what looked like a muzzle instead. Jeremy walked into the room.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Hey. Just going through some stuff, feeling sentimental… Dad had this old family journal from years ago. I thought I'd dig it up." Elena explained. Jeremy jumped onto the counter to sit next to Ava.

"Jonathan Gilbert's journal?"

"Yeah, what do you know about it?"

"I just did a history report on it."

"Oh. So where is it now?"

"I gave it to Mr. Saltzman. He wanted to see it."

* * *

Ava glanced around the school nervously. It was much creepier when it was dark and abandoned. Imagining a tomb underneath the town with dozens of vampires in it didn't help much. Her life was so much less stressful before Zach had sat her down and told her about the vampiric branch of the family tree.

"You didn't have to come." Stefan reminded her.

"Well, you know, Salvatore's have to stick together." She said lamely as he walked into Mr. Saltzman's classroom. The desk lamp was still on, which meant the school wasn't as abandoned as she'd thought. They started digging through the desk, trying to find the journal.

"It's not here. Maybe he took it home. We can go to the office and break into his files and see where he lives. Wait, do teachers have files or is that only for students-?" Stefan cut her off by clamping a hand over her mouth. She looked at him and he tapped his ear before motioning to the hallway. She nodded, understanding. Stefan walked around the desk to look into the hallway while she backed herself up against the chalkboard. Mr. Saltzman stepped into the room and fired his weapon. Stefan caught the stake an inch from his chest and darted over to Mr. Saltzman. He grabbed him by his shirt.

"You shouldn't have done that." In the next second, Stefan had pushed him into a couple of school desks and taken the gun from him. Mr. Saltzman scrambled to his feet, ready to fight.

"Why don't we sit down and talk about this like gentlemen? And a lady." Ava suggested, stepping forward.

"Have a seat." Stefan pointed at a chair, silently insisting on being obeyed. Mr. Saltzman took a seat at one of the desks and Stefan examined the gun.

"What is this, compressed air? Did you make it yourself? Who are you?" Stefan moved closer and Mr. Saltzman flinched.

"He's not going to hurt you... unless you try to kill him in which I think that anything he does to you would be justifiable. So why don't I take this-." Ava took the gun from Stefan. "-and you can answer his questions before it gets bloody? I get really squeamish about blood, so…" Ava shook her head, forcing herself to shut up and put the gun down on a nearby desk.

"Now... who are you?" Stefan asked.

"I'm a teacher."

"Are we gonna have to do this the hard way?"

"I'm also a historian. And while researching Virginia, I… made a few discoveries about your town."

"So you show up like Buffy the Vampire Slayer… the guy version? You'd have to be more confrontational than Malia to do that!" Ava told him. She pulled another desk upright and sat on top of it. Mr. Saltzman took a deep breath and continued:

"My wife was a parapsychologist. She spent her life researching paranormal activity in this area. It was her work that led me here."

"Where's your wife?"

"Dead. A vampire killed her."

"Where's the Gilbert journal?" Stefan demanded.

"What do you want with it?"

"Where is it?"

"It's on my desk."

"No, it's not. I looked. Stefan looked. It's not." Ava told him in her usual overly-explanatory way. Alaric looked past her at the desk.

"It _was_ on my desk."

"Fine… How long have you been aware of me?" Stefan asked.

"I learned just recently. What about your brother?"

"You met Damon."

"Who do you think killed my wife?" Mr. Saltzman demanded.

"Are you certain it was Damon?"

"You have to ask? It's Damon!" Ava hissed.

"I witnessed it." Mr. Saltzman assured him.

"If you're here for revenge, this is going to end very badly for you."

"I just want to find out what happened to my wife."

"I thought you just said that Damon..."

"Yeah. I saw him draining the life out of her. He must have heard me coming. He just...disappeared. So did her body. They never found her."

"Damon can never know why you're here. He'll kill you without blinking and enjoy every second of it." Ava warned.

"I can take care of myself."

"No, you can't. I can help you. If you let me."

* * *

Ava, Stefan, Damon and Elena were on the front porch of the Gilbert house, where Jeremy and Jenna couldn't hear them.

"Where is Gilbert Barbie anyway?" Damon demanded.

"She's out shopping with Jess and Caroline." Elena told him.

"The one time she might be needed for interrogation… It's that teacher. There's something really off about him." Damon mused.

"No, he doesn't know anything. Somebody got to it right before me." Stefan told him. Ava kept her mouth shut about the whole thing.

"Who else knew it was there?" Damon asked. Stefan looked through the window at Jeremy. Damon followed his gaze and started to walk back into the house.

"No, Damon, leave him out of it!" Elena warned.

"Why, what's the big deal?"

"Damon!" Damon went back into the house and flopped down on the arm of the couch to talk to Jeremy.

"So... I heard you found a really cool journal from back in the day. Who else did you show it to?"

"Huh?"

"Don't ask questions, just spill."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Jer, did you tell anyone other than Mr. Saltzman about Jonathan Gilbert's journal?" Elena asked.

"Why is everybody so obsessed with that thing?"

"Who else did you tell?" Elena asked again.

"Just that girl Anna."

"The hot, weird one?"

"The what weird one?" Ava asked, frowning slightly.

"Yeah." Jeremy agreed, not taking his eyes off the video games.

"Wait, who is Anna?" Stefan asked.

"That's what I want to find out." Damon whispered to him.

"How do you know her?" He asked Jeremy.

"I just know her. She wants me to meet her at the Grill tonight."

"Perfect. I'll drive. Come on."

"Okay." Although confused, Jeremy got up from the couch. As Damon walked by her, he grabbed Ava's arm and pulled her along with them.

* * *

As soon as they were in the Grill, Jeremy went over to the pool table to talk to Anna, who was waiting for him. Damon took one look at her and turned his back so that she couldn't see him.

"You recognize her?" Ava asked in a whisper.

"Yeah… I also recognize when you're hiding something." He grabbed her wrist so that she couldn't get away.

"Scream and see how many people I'll compel or kill. Go on." He challenged. She kept her mouth shut.

"I've gotten very soft with you. I should have killed you weeks ago. Now, what is Stefan hiding about the teacher?" Damon asked her in a threatening whisper. She swallowed hard and didn't say anything. He tightened his grip on her wrist until she was grimacing with pain.

"Okay, okay, stop!" She yelped, struggling to keep her voice low. He loosened his grip but didn't release her. She took a deep breath, her eyes watery from the pain.

"Tell me." He growled.

"Mr. Saltzman had copies of the journal pages made… I guess he wanted to read through them and give the journal back to Jeremy or something but he had copies made."

"Where are they?"

"With Stefan. Stefan took them." She sputtered. Damon started grinding his teeth together.

"Of course he did… And I know who has the original journal." He cast a glance at Anna, who was playing pool with Jeremy.

"Please let me go." Ava pleaded.

"You talk more than your mother, you know that?" He snapped at her, standing up from the barstool. She glared at him for that comment, trying unsuccessfully to get her wrist free from his grip. Just then, Bonnie and Ben walked over to them.

"Is there a problem here?" Bonnie asked, glaring at Damon. Damon smiled charmingly at her.

"Not at all. Just hanging out with my baby cousin." Ava turned her face away from Bonnie and Ben. There was nothing Bonnie could do against Damon, witch or not. As muscular as Ben looked, he didn't stand a chance either. Making a scene would only get people hurt. She closed eyes, took a breath and forced a smile onto her face before turning back to Bonnie.

"Damon was here drinking and I was here and ignoring him never works and he's been talking up a storm. We were just about to go home and I can tell you're totally on a date, so I'll let you get back to that." She forced herself to keep smiling even as she finished talking. Bonnie gave her a weird look and leaned in to whisper to her.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Totally. Jess and Malia are out shopping so I just needed someone to talk you." She lied through her teeth. Bonnie pulled away, still giving her a weird look, but left with Ben. Damon smiled at Ava.

"You are a good liar when you need to be. Get up." He pulled her up from the barstool by her wrist, grabbed her bag from the stool beside her and pulled her from the Grill. Once they were at his car, he opened the driver's side door.

"Into the car." She scrambled over to the passenger seat and tried to get the door open, but he'd already locked the doors. He sat down in the driver's seat and closed the door behind him.

"Give me your phone."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Phone. Now." She reluctantly handed over her cell-phone, which he put into his jacket pocket. He shoved the keys into the ignition and the car roared to life. He pulled out of the parking lot.

"Where are we going?" She asked, rubbing her wrist.

"Vampires always stay in motels… We're going to see what Anna's learned from the journal."

"She's in the Grill." Ava protested.

"She'll come home. Put your seatbelt on, safety first." He told her in a mocking tone. She turned in her seat so that her back was to him.

* * *

Sitting in the car with Damon in the parking lot of an old motel, just waiting for a vampire to show up, was the longest half hour of Ava's life. When Damon saw Anna entering her motel room, he turned to Ava.

"Leave this car and I will hunt you down. Understood?"

"What do you want me for anyway?"

"Leverage." Damon smirked at her and then got out of the car to follow Anna into her room. Ava sat obediently in the passenger seat. Getting hunted down by Damon didn't sound fun, but neither did getting used as leverage, whatever Damon meant by that. She had never truly understood the phrase 'lesser of two evils' until that moment. It only took a few minutes for Damon to return.

"I know where they are." He announced grimly. He started the car again and drove out of the parking lot. Ava tried to get her bearing as he sped down abandoned roads. Finally, he slammed on the brakes.

"Get out." He ordered as he himself got out of the driver's seat. Ava hesitantly got out on her side. He dragged her into the short line of trees and she found herself in the graveyard. Stefan and Elena were kneeling by a dug-up grave, looking through an ancient looking book.

"Well, what do you know?" Damon spoke loudly to get their attention.

"This is an interesting turn of events..." Damon added. He pulled Ava along with him as he stood on one side of the grave, glaring at Stefan and Elena as they stood on the other side.

"I can't let you bring her back. I'm sorry." Stefan told him.

"So am I. For thinking for even a second that I could trust you!"

"Oh. You're not capable of trust. The fact that you're here means that you read the journal and you were planning on doing this yourself."

"Of course I was going to do it by myself, because the only one I can count on is me! You made sure of that many years ago, Stefan. But you..." He looked at Elena.

"You had me fooled." Elena looked away from him, as if ashamed.

"So what are you going to do now? Because I have leverage." Damon told Stefan.

"You won't kill her."

"I can do much better than that, Stefan!" Damon's grip tightened on Ava's wrist until there was a sharp cracking sound. She screamed in pain. Elena gasped, her eyes widening at the sound and obvious pain that Ava was in.

"Give me the book, Stefan, or she's going to go join her father and poor Uncle Zach in the afterlife!"

"Let her go first." Stefan told him, picking the book off the ground.

"The book!"

"I'm not giving this to you until she's over here by me."

"Problem is… I no longer trust that you'll give it back!"

"Like you said, you have the leverage." Stefan reminded him. Damon looked at Ava, considering that, and then he nodded.

"Okay." Stefan slowly placed the book on the ground. Damon released Ava and she scrambled over to Stefan. Stefan pulled her and Elena away from the book. Damon grabbed it and darted off. Stefan turned to Ava, lowering her into a kneeling position on the ground.

"Her wrist… it's broken… isn't it?" Elena sputtered. Stefan nodded and started to bite into his wrist but Ava shook her head.

"Don't! Just… just take me to the hospital…"

"But Stefan's blood-." Elena started.

"I don't want vampire blood in my system! Please just take me to the hospital!" She pleaded. Stefan hesitated, but then nodded.

* * *

Elena paced in her bedroom until Stefan came to the doorway. She ushered him in and shut the door behind them so that no one could overhear.

"She's fine. Her wrist is going to be in a cast for a month or two, but she'll be okay. She's with Malia and Jeremy upstairs now." He told her. Elena nodded, sitting down on the foot of her bed.

"I really thought he was going to kill her."

"I wouldn't put it past him. Are you okay?" Stefan asked.

"I could use some aspirin." She admitted.

"I'll get some for you."

"Thanks." Stefan walked downstairs and into the kitchen. Jenna looked up as she saw him.

"I hope you're planning on spending the night."

"We're just going to hang out for a little while. Do you have an aspirin?"

"Yeah." Jenna went to rummage through the cabinet. Jeremy walked downstairs and looked around, confused.

"Where'd she go?"

"Go spend twenty minutes with a cute, injured girl in a dark attic… see how most girlfriends react. She said she was going to give her regards to Elena and go home." Jenna explained.

"Who?" Stefan asked, confused.

"Anna." Jeremy told him. Stefan frowned, thinking about what Ava had told him on the drive home from the hospital. Then he hurried upstairs into Elena's room. The window was open and she was gone…


	20. The Tomb

**A/N This is the full episode of 'Fool Me Once'. Enjoy!**

* * *

Jeremy gave Ava a gentle shake and she jerked away, nearly falling off her chair the table in the Grill. He laughed a little as she brushed her hair out of her face.

"We're supposed to do homework, not taking a nap." He reminded her. Caroline and Jess walked over to them.

"Hey, Jeremy. Where is Elena? I've been texting her and Bonnie all day about Duke's party."

"Uh, she went somewhere with Stefan." Caroline sighed.

"I am so not going to be one of those girls who disappears just because she has a new boyfriend."

"What happened to your wrist?" Jess asked Ava.

"Uh… I fell." _For Damon's false kindness act,_ she added in her head.

"So, wait, who is Duke?" Jeremy asked.

"Some guy that graduated a couple of years ago. And he throws a party every time he comes home from Duke."

"Wait, Duke goes to Duke?" Ava asked, raising an eyebrow.

"His real name's Bob or something." Caroline said, brushing off the subject. Jeremy laughed quietly.

"He's a total butt. But he buys the beer. You know, you should come."

"Uh, yeah, I… I don't think so."

"No, seriously. Everyone goes. Even quiet loner little brothers and female Salvatore's. Think about it." Caroline hurried off to talk to Matt. Ava's phone rang and she looked down at it.

"I'll be right back." She slid out of her seat and walked to an empty corner in the restaurant before answering.

"Stefan?"

" _Where did Damon find Anna last night?_ "

"At the motel on the edge of town. One of the second story rooms. What's going on, Stefan?"

" _Anna has Elena and Bonnie. Look, I want you to stay away from her, alright?_ "

"She's hanging out with Jeremy, am I supposed to just let them hang out like nothing's wrong?"

" _I'll handle it if it becomes a problem_." Malia's voice came.

"Of course you will. Just make sure that Elena and Bonnie are okay."

* * *

Malia and Stefan ran vampire-speed to the motel door. Stefan kicked it down and immediately Ben screamed, the sunlight burning his skin. Malia ran over to open the curtains. Ben retreated to the shaded space between two beds.

"Stefan, Malia!" Elena gasped.

"Go, get outside." He told her. Bonnie and Elena rushed out while Malia went over to Ben.

"When the sun goes down, you're going to leave town and never come back. Next time I see you, you'll get a stake in your heart. Got it?" Ben nodded quickly and Malia smiled her approval before walking out of the motel room.

* * *

Malia was more than a little surprised that Bonnie's grandmother willingly invited her into the house. Sheila was known for being a bit bonkers and believing in magic. Now, Malia realized she wasn't as crazy as she let everyone believe.

"So what do we do now?" Elena asked.

"Well, for now, you need to stay here." Stefan told Sheila and Bonnie.

"A prisoner in my own home? I don't think so." Sheila protested.

"I can't protect you if you leave the house." Stefan warned.

"We'll protect ourselves."

"We need to let him have Katherine back. He's not going to stop until he gets her. If we help him, maybe that ends it." Elena mused.

"That's like rewarding a puppy for chewing up your clothes." Malia protested.

"What other choice do we have?" Elena demanded.

"Let him sit outside, cold and alone." She suggested dryly. Sheila sighed and looked over at them.

"Witches being pulled down by vampire problems… As much as we tried to do to stay out of it… I'll open the tomb. You get your brother's girl and destroy the rest with fire. Then this will be all over."

"We still have to get Damon to agree." Stefan pointed out.

"He already agreed once." Elena reminded him.

"Yeah, and then we double crossed him. So now he's angry."

"He's hurt. There's a difference. I think I know what I have to do."

* * *

A tomb full of desiccated vampires, just waiting to sink their fangs into a vein, mere feet below her… It wasn't the most comforting thought in the world and Ava started nervously fidgeting with her Vervain necklace. Stefan came up from the tomb and tossed his shovel aside.

"Cleared the debris away. Set the torches like you asked. We can get down now." He assured the two Bennett's. Bonnie glanced at the cans of gasoline and flame thrower sitting nearby.

"What is that?"

"It's everything I need to destroy them." Stefan explained.

"Nothing like the sweet smell of burning vampire flesh to make you wish you lived anywhere else." Malia spoke up, walking into the clearing.

"There's a party going not far from here." She nodded her head in the general direction and Ava grimaced at the thought. If Damon and Stefan both did what they promised, no vampires would get to the teenagers too naïve to avoid the woods. Stefan handed Sheila a flashlight.

"Are you sure that Damon will come back with her?" Sheila asked. Damon whistled from behind them to get their attention.

"Brother. Witches. Judgy teenage girls." He greeted all of them in turn and went into the tomb without another word. Elena went over to Stefan.

"Everything okay?"

"I just want to get this over with. Are we ready?" Elena asked. Bonnie shrugged, unsure of what was actually going to happen.

"I guess so." They went down into the tomb. Sheila started lighting the torches. Ava leaned in to whisper to Malia.

"I think I saw a horror movie start like this once."

"Life in Mystic Falls _is_ a horror movie."

"Air. Earth. Fire." Sheila started listing the elements.

"Water." Bonnie held up a water bottle and Sheila sprinkled the water on the floor.

"That's it? Just water from the tap? Not some kind of mystical water blessed seven times by a priest in the Malaysian mountains during a lunar eclipse on scared ground?" Ava asked. Bonnie and Sheila just smirked at her. Damon pulled out a blood bag and started fingering it. Malia tensed and looked over at him.

"Why do you have that here?"

"It's for Katherine. Gotta have something to get her going."

"Well, put it away. I can smell it _through the plastic_!" Veins formed under Malia's eyes and she growled at her, her fangs showing. He just smirked and kept it in his hands.

"Admit it: you can't wait to get rid of me?"

"I could set you on fire." She suggested, the veins and fangs disappearing.

"I'd love to see you try." He shot back.

"I can't wait to get rid of you." She huffed, folding her arms across her tank top clad chest. He smirked. Bonnie and Sheila started chanting, hands interlocked and eyes squeezed shut.

"What are they saying?" Damon whispered.

"Sounds Latin." Stefan whispered back.

"I don't think its Latin." Elena protested.

"We're about to open a tomb full of hungry vampires and all you can think about is what language the two witches are reciting in? This is why I have to handle most of our problems." Malia snapped at them.

"You're mean." Damon told her, narrowing his eyes.

"Some of my most prized possessions are insults that never left my head. Trust me, I could be worse." The torches around the two Bennett's flared up and Elena grabbed Stefan's arm in surprise. Ava was flat against the wall, but she looked like she wanted to be even farther away. The door to the tomb creaked open. Sheila and Bonnie stopped chanted and looked up.

"It worked!"

"Of course it worked." Sheila told her.

"We have some fires to build." Damon told his brother.

"I'm gonna go get the gasoline, I'll be right back." Stefan jogged out of the tomb and Ava hurried after him. Damon looked at Elena.

"You ready?"

"What?"

"You think I'm gonna go in there by myself so you can seal me in?" Damon asked the two Bennett's angrily. He grabbed Elena by the arm. In the next second, Malia had her hand on his shoulder.

"Let her go."

"Or what?" The following crack that resulted from her fist impacting his face could probably be heard at the Duke party. Damon grabbed Malia by the throat, pushing her up against the wall.

"Enough! Look, you need leverage. I get it. I'll go!" Elena cried. Damon released Malia and she glared up at him.

"Like you needed Ava for leverage?"

"I could have done a lot worse to my niece. Come on." He grabbed Elena, one of the torches from the circle and disappeared into the tomb. Malia growled and ran in after him.

"Malia, don't!" Sheila warned. But Malia was already long gone.

* * *

Stefan ran over to the gasoline cans and started to gather them up. Ava ran over to him and grabbed one with her good hand as well.

"Dark down there?" Ava nearly jumped out of her skin and Stefan slowly straightened up to look at Ben. Jeremy was unconscious at his feet and Ava immediately jumped towards him, only to be caught around the waist by Stefan.

"I thought Malia and I made it very clear you were to leave town." Stefan told him slowly.

"I considered it. Then I thought… screw you."

"Hey, hero." Stefan turned around, releasing Ava, to look at Anna. She slowly walked towards the tomb.

"I'm going down there to get my mother."

"I can't let you do that."

"Well, Ben's about to make a main course out of Elena's little brother. So you can stop me or him. Your choice." She sped into the tomb, all but a blur of speed.

"Do you really think that she cares about you? You're a washed up jock that was desperate for attention and she played you like a violin, Ben!" Ava yelled at the younger vampire.

"I don't care. She already gave me what I want."

"Are you going to say 'eternal life'? Are you really that stupid?" Stefan demanded. Ben stalked closer to Stefan. Ava stepped away from both of them and, when Ben didn't seem to notice her, rushed over to Jeremy.

"You know, I've heard about you. You don't feed. You're not strong enough to beat me." Ben mocked. He rushed at Stefan and Stefan easily knocked him to the ground. Ben got up and looked at him.

"Is that all you got?

"No. I got this." Ava turned away as Stefan set Ben on fire. Once the screams died off, she looked up at the burned corpse on the ground.

"It's alright. I love having nightmares. That's totally good for that… Jeremy? Jeremy, wake up." She gave Jeremy a shake, but it did nothing. Stefan put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm going down there. Stay with him."

* * *

Malia could hear Elena's heart pounding. As long as it kept beating, Malia wouldn't have a complete freak out. But as for her own situation, she had somehow gotten herself lost in the very tomb she ran into all half-cocked and ready to fight Damon to death gladiator style. Her phone wasn't giving off as much light as she'd hoped. What was the old saying? Two lefts made a right? Or was it two rights made a left? The more she thought about it, the more she realized she was screwed. Then she heard a scream, a scream from Elena no doubt.

"Elena?!" She followed the echoing scream, trying to get to its origin. She turned the corner and saw Elena on the ground with Anna kneeling over her mother. She rushed over to Elena as she sat up.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Elena assured her. Anna helped her mother to her feet and looked at Malia.

"Come near my brother again and I will make you wish you'd been stuck in this tomb yourself." Malia growled. When Anna and her mother disappeared around the corner, the sisters looked at each other.

"Where'd Damon go?"

"I don't know." Elena admitted. Stefan rushed over to them.

"Elena, go, down that hallway, take a right." He pushed Elena ahead of them and she sprinted off. He turned to Malia once Elena was gone.

"They just opened the door; they didn't take off the seal."

"What?" Malia asked, genuinely confused.

"The spell that keeps vampires from leaving is still in place." He explained. She stared at him for a moment.

"This is why I don't help people. It always comes back to bite me. Sometimes _literally_." She growled. Then she seemed to think of something.

"I'm going to go find Damon."

* * *

Damon kicked at the dirt on the floor, gritting his teeth together.

"She's not here!" Malia crept up behind him.

"Bummer." He turned around to look at her and received a punch to the face that sent him stumbling back into the wall behind him.

"We can't leave because of you!"

"How can she not be here?" He asked himself.

"You are such a lovesick puppy! Do you even care that we're stuck here?" Malia demanded. Damon turned and threw the blood bag at the wall, causing it to splatter and drip down the rocks. The veins under Malia's eyes appeared and she shook her head, trying to concentrate on anything else. Stefan ran over to them.

"The seal's down, but if we don't leave now, we're not getting out." He told them. Malia rushed past him, nearly knocking into Elena.

"How could she not be in here?"

"It's not worthy spending all of eternity down here. She's not worth it!" Stefan protested. Elena leaned around Stefan.

"Damon, please."

* * *

Damon walked out of the tomb, still angry, and Malia and Elena followed him. Elena immediately spun around to hug Stefan when he exited. The door to the tomb closed and the torches died out. As everyone walked above ground again, Malia caught sight of Ava and Jeremy.

"Jeremy!" She darted over, kneeling down beside him. Elena hurried over.

"He's alright." Ava assured them.

"Where's Katherine?" She asked, almost as an afterthought. Damon was standing near the tree line, looking miserable.

"She wasn't there." Malia told her.

"Wasn't… there? How could she not be there? Did you check all the nooks and crannies and places a cockroach like her could have crawled into?"

"Damon did. I really don't care, though." Malia sat back on her heels, looking exhausted by the night's events. Elena stood up and walked over to Damon.

"Elena, don't!" Malia hissed. She rolled her eyes when she saw Elena hugging Damon.

"That's why the puppy keeps chewing up our stuff…" She mumbled. Jeremy was awake enough that she sat him up and then pulled him completely to his feet, letting him lean on her.

"What happened?" He asked, dazed.

"You were unconscious." Malia explained shortly. She glanced over at Ava.

"I'll catch a ride with Stefan, don't worry about it." Malia nodded and led Jeremy from the clearing. After a couple yards, he straightened up and could walk on his own.

"I swear I didn't drink that much." He moaned.

"I believe you."

"I didn't."

"I believe you, Jeremy." She told him firmly. As they passed the party, Malia stopped and looked towards the party-goers. She spotted Jess in the crowd, dancing and laughing with Caroline. They were completely unaware of the fact that less than a mile away, there were hungry vampires that could think of nothing else but sinking their teeth in their necks. Malia shook her head and went to catch up with Jeremy. Of course they didn't know. That was the point. Vampires were here to kill the people of Mystic Falls. And, somehow, it had fallen upon her to protect them…


	21. Coincidence

**A/N This is the first part of 'A Few Good Men'.**

* * *

Elena burst into the attic bedroom, not bothering to knock. Malia nearly jumped out of her skin and hurried to try and hide the blood bag. Elena quickly shut the door behind her.

"Sorry. Just me."

"A little more warning would be nice." Malia sucked the bag dry, wrapped it in scrap paper and tossed it into her trashcan.

"Why did you… _drink_ … at the Boarding House?" Elena asked, still not sure 'drink' was the right word for Malia's bloodlust.

"Because Damon has college girls over partying with him and I didn't feel like dealing with him. What's the matter?"

"Jenna dug up some more information about our birth mother." Malia got up and followed Elena downstairs. The three girls gathered around Jenna's laptop.

"Your dad kept everything from his medical practice. Records, logs, old appointment books… I found an entry from the night you were born. Patient and birth date. Isobel Peterson." Jenna explained.

"Do you think that's her real name?" Elena asked.

"Pregnant teenage runaway? Probably not… First name, maybe. But where'd she get Peterson? Classmate? Best friend? So I binged it. I searched for all the Petersons in this area born the same year as Isobel, found three… two men and a woman, Trudie, who lived in Grove Hill, Virginia."

"That's not far from here." Malia pointed out.

"Well, watch this." Jenna typed something else into the search engine and pulled up and image of Isobel and Trudie Peterson from high school.

"Isobel… She was a cheerleader." Elena mused.

"I look nothing like her." Malia added. Elena turned her head, as if looking at the picture sideways would suddenly make her resemblance to Malia apparent. Malia had always been told she got her looks from Aunt Jenna and Uncle John. Now she had to wonder if she got her looks from her birth father.

"Trudie still lives there. This is her address." Jenna handed Elena a post-it note with an address scribbled on it. Malia tried to take it but Elena side-stepped away and out of her reach.

"What about Isobel?"

"I couldn't find anything about her." Elena frowned and sat down at the table. Malia turned to get another look at the picture of Isobel. Although the resemblance was definitely there, she didn't look a whole lot like Elena either. She wondered if that was a doppelganger thing…

"Listen…" Jenna began nervously. The twins looked at her, waiting for her to go on.

"There's something else. Mr. Saltzman… Ric. His wife was from around here and her name was also Isobel."

"Hold up a sec, 'was'? As in…" Malia trailed off, the information clicking in her head. Jenna nodded.

"She died."

* * *

Malia was the master of smirks, but Elena hadn't been on the receiving end of her infamous 'you rebel, you' smirks in a long time. She tried to focus on something else and held up the Post-It note with Trudie's address up to the windshield. She glanced at the house that matched the address.

"You said Stefan was going to come with you when you went."

"I didn't know we were going to come here until we showed up."

"Ah, that clears it up." Malia said sarcastically, propping her combat-boot-clad feet up on the dashboard. Elena sighed and folded up the post-it note, sticking it back into her jacket pocket.

"I just kind of drove here."

"I noticed. Are we going now or what?" Malia moved to open her door but Elena grabbed her arm.

"We didn't call or anything and just showing up uninvited…"

"Almost as a rude as dumping two babies in someone else's house for them to adopt."

"That wasn't Trudie." Elena protested.

"But she knows something. Let's go." Malia opened her door and got out. Elena huffed and followed. Malia knocked the door and Elena stood nervously on the porch, almost hoping that Trudie wasn't home. For a second, no one answered the door.

"No one's home, let's go, Malia." Elena started to walk away when the door opened. She turned back.

"Are you Trudie Peterson?" Malia asked.

"Yes."

"I'm Malia Gilbert. This is Elena-." Malia grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her to the doorway for emphasis. "-and we wanted to talk to you about Isobel Flemming."

"Well, I haven't heard that name in years. How do you know her?" Malia was opening her mouth to answer but Elena wisely beat her to it.

"I think that, um, well... do you know if she had twin daughters that she gave up for adoption?"

"My god. You're her daughters... I was just gonna make some tea. Would you like some?"

"Sure."

"Uh, the kitchen's this way." Trudie backed away from the door, anticipating Elena's entrance. Elena stepped over the threshold easily. Malia stood on the porch. _That wasn't an invitation_ , she thought both suspiciously and bitterly. Elena kept going into the kitchen, not aware of the situation behind her Trudie closed her eyes and sighed.

"You know about vampires." Trudie didn't answer; she didn't need to. Malia nodded to herself.

"I guess I'll wait in the car." Trudie shut the door and Malia huffed, turning to go back and wait.

* * *

Elena got in the driver's seat of the car and looked over at her sister.

"Why did you wait in the car? She showed me pictures of Isobel and-."

"She didn't invite me in."

"Oh my gosh… The kitchen is this way… I didn't even think about that. I'm sorry. I think it's better anyway. She served Vervain tea."

"We need to leave." Malia told her seriously.

"I don't think she's a threat-."

"That guy has been watching this car for fifteen minutes. Let's go." Elena glanced at where Malia was looking and quickly stuck the keys into the ignition. As they were driving down the street, Malia glanced in the review mirror. The man barged into Trudie's house, leaving the door slightly ajar.

"Elena, stop!" She yelled. Surprised and panicked, Elena slammed on the brakes. Malia yanked her seatbelt off, pushed open the car door and darted up to Trudie's front porch. Elena was running after her.

"Malia, Malia, what's going on?" She yelled, catching up to her on the porch. Malia held up her hand, motioning for Elena to stop. She slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"But you weren't-." Elena started.

"Doesn't matter." Malia looked away from Trudie's body, lying on the bottom of the stairs. Elena stepped inside and gasped.

"What… what happened? We just left."

"That guy that was watching us. The second we left he went into her house." Malia paused, listening.

"He's still here. Call 911." Malia darted up the stairs and looked down the hallway. She made her way into the back bedroom. The window was open, the curtains swinging in the wind. She ran over and looked out. Nothing. She slammed her hand against the windowsill, cracking the wood. She could track him… She was halfway out the window when Elena yelled for her. She darted back downstairs.

"Why would someone kill Trudie?"

"For giving you information."

"What?"

"He was watching us. As soon as we left, he went in." Elena took a second to process this information.

"The police are on their way. What… what do we tell them?"

"That we came to see her, a friend of our mother, and we left. We noticed someone go into the house and went to see if she was okay. We found her like this." Malia told her calmly. Elena wiped at her eyes.

"How are you so calm?!"

"Please, I've killed people before. I can handle stuff like this." Elena looked up at her.

"Logan Fell."

"He wasn't really dead."

"I wish he had been…"

* * *

The police let Malia and Elena go after the routine questions were answered and they went back to their car. Elena drove them back towards home. She still hated how calm Malia was. Was that a vampire thing or just a Malia thing? Malia was always blunt, bold and nearly impossible to catch off guard.

"We shouldn't have come." Elena finally spoke as they stopped at a stop sign. She cast a glance around and then pressed down on the gas pedal to keep the car moving.

"It was your idea." Malia reminded her, tugging on a strand of dark blonde hair like everything was right in the world.

"Thanks." Elena snapped sarcastically, shooting her a look.

"Look, that's not our biggest worry, Elena. Obviously someone doesn't want us knowing about Isobel."

"And that makes you want to know all the more, right?"

"You know me so well." Malia popped her feet up on the dashboard again and Elena sighed, trying to calm herself down.

"We should've brought Stefan."

"What could he have done that I didn't?" Malia demanded, narrowing her eyes at her twin.

"I don't know, I just…"

"Want a hug from your boyfriend?" There was a teasing tone in Malia's voice, but Elena nodded anyway.

"Yeah…" She admitted. She tapped her fingers against the wheel, squirmed in her seat and finally looked over at her sister again.

"I need something else to think about. I need a change of subject."

"Then change the subject." Malia told her dryly.

"Why don't you have a boyfriend?"

"To anything but that."

"Oh come on, Malia. Just talk to me." Elena pleaded. For a minute, Malia didn't say anything. Then she rolled her eyes and obediently began talking:

"No one in town is good enough for me. Besides, I'm a vampire. I shouldn't date humans. Too dangerous..."

"That's Stefan philosophy."

"Obviously not anymore…"

"I guess not." Elena giggled nervously. For the rest of the ride home, they talked about subjects that no longer held any importance in their busy, supernatural lives. Finally, Elena pulled up at the Salvatore Boarding house. Elena wasted no time going up to Stefan's room and Malia hurried to follow her.

"Stefan?"

"Better. Me." Damon walked out of the bathroom, without a shirt on. Malia rolled her eyes.

"You look, um…" Elena trailed off, as if searching for the right word.

"Dashing? Gorgeous? Irresistible?" Damon walked across the room, quickly closing the space between him and Elena. When he got too close, Malia got in between them and pushed him back.

"Wrecked. You looked wrecked."

"No reason why... Do you know that I am one of Mystic Falls' most eligible bachelors?" He slipped on a button-up shirt.

"Did everyone else die?" Malia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"How are you doing?" Elena asked.

"Never better… Yep… What can I do for you? I'm a barrel of favors today. It's my newfound purpose… how can I help people?"

"You know, somehow I doubt that." Malia told him, folding her arms across her t-shirt clad chest.

"Where's Stefan?" Elena added. Damon was struggling to button up his shirt but was evidently too drunk to do so. He turned to look at Elena.

"Help a guy out, will you? Can't get this..."

"Guess you can't leave the house." Malia told him. Elena sighed and walked over to Damon. She grabbed the front of his shirt and begun buttoning it up for him.

"So I found out who my birth mother is." She told him as she worked.

"Eh. Who cares? She left you. She sucks." He told her. Stefan walked into the room.

"Stefan." Malia greeted him. Elena went over to hug him. Damon started to put his jacket on.

"Uh... I need a bigger jacket. Wow. You know, an occasional sorority girl might, um, you know, help fill you out a little bit." He threw the jacket onto Stefan's bed and left the room.

"He's fine?" Elena asked.

"He's Damon."

"Maybe this heartache will be good for him. It'll remind him that he has one, even if it doesn't beat."

"Won't hold my breath."

"On a more important note, we went to see Trudie Peterson." Malia spoke up, going to sit on the edge of Stefan's bed. He looked between the two of them, concerned.

"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't plan it." Elena told him.

"She has Vervain, she didn't invite me in and she's dead." Malia added.

"What?" He stared her.

"I didn't kill her. Someone else did." She told him, seeing his look.

"It can't be a coincidence that she knows about vampires."

"It isn't. This is Alaric's wife." Stefan took a picture out of Isobel out of his pocket and gave it to Elena. Malia got up and walked over to look at it.

"This is her. This is Isobel…" Elena gasped.

"Everything he knows about vampires, he learned from her. He believes that she was killed by one."

"Do we know the vampire?" Malia asked. Stefan ignored her.

"Listen, Elena, there's a lot about Isobel that Alaric can tell you, but I need you to hold off a little while before you talk to him."

"Why?"

"I know that it's a lot to ask of you, but will you do that for me?" Elena nodded in agreement. Malia sighed.

"I promise nothing. Now, let's get to that fundraiser and make sure Damon doesn't kill anyone."


	22. Isobel

**A/N This is the final part of 'A Few Good Men'**

* * *

The Grill was packed due to the fundraiser. Caroline worked the ticket booth and Matt, Elena and Jess had gathered around to talk. As soon as Kelly Donovan came in, she gave Caroline a look of distaste. It was look that wasn't lost on either Forbes sister.

"Elena, honey."

"Hi, Kelly." Kelly and Elena exchanged hugs.

"Long time, no see."

"How are you doing?"

"Oh, same old. Oh. Mattie tells me you broke his heart."

"Mom." Matt protested.

"Just kidding. Calm down. He found his rebound girl." She turned to Caroline and handed her some money.

"Oh. Here you go, sweetheart. However many that'll buy."

"I just hope I don't get Bachelor three. I dated him in high school. Not impressive. In any way." Kelly added. Matt looked embarrassed, as he should have been. Caroline handed Kelly her tickets.

"Very exciting." After Elena and Matt had wandered off, Jess turned to Caroline.

"She's so nice to you." She said sarcastically. Caroline just shook her head.

"She's not used to me yet."

"It doesn't matter. Stick up for yourself."

"I don't want to mess with Matt's family."

"Family doesn't leave family. Kelly could use a lesson on manners." Jess told her, fingering the tickets on the table. Caroline sighed, which Jess could take as her agreement.

"Hey, can you go get us some fries?" She asked hopefully.

"I thought fries were fattening?" Jess asked.

"I'll make an exception today."

"I'll go get them." Jess said with a smile. She straightened up and hurried towards the counter.

* * *

Ava stood with Stefan and Malia as Caroline stood on the stage, introducing each of the bachelors. She held out the microphone to one of the men.

"And what do you do, Bachelor Number Three?"

"Yeah, I'm a plumber."

"Well, isn't that wonderful? We could always use more plumbers. Moving on. Number 4, Alaric Saltzman. Wow. That's quite a mouthful. What do you do, Alaric?"

"I'm a teacher at Mystic Falls High."

"Oh, beauty and brains, ladies. This one's a keeper. What do you teach?"

"History."

"History. Oh, well, give us a fun fact about Mystic Falls, something crazy." Alaric glanced over at Damon beside him. Damon placed his hand beside his ear, sarcastically anticipating a response.

"Uh, well…" Carol pulled the microphone away.

"He's probably saving the best stories for his date. And last, but not least, Damon Salvatore. We don't have much on you."

"Well, I'm tough to fit on a card."

"Do you have any hobbies, like to travel?"

"Oh, yeah. L.A., New York. Couple of years ago, I was in North Carolina. Near the Duke campus, actually. I think… I think Alaric went to school there. Didn't you, Ric? Yeah, cause I… I know your wife did." Malia tensed and Ava instinctively grabbed her wrist, rather it was for comfort or restraint Malia didn't know. Damon wasn't done there.

"I had a drink with her once. She was… she was a great girl. I ever tell you that? Cause she was… Delicious. Mmhmm." Malia started forward but Stefan grabbed her.

"He's the vampire?" She hissed at him. Ava grabbed her arms, trying to help restrain her without being too obvious. Luckily, no one in the Grill was paying much attention to them. Elena passed them, hurrying out of the Grill. Malia jerked out of Stefan's grip and hurried after her. She found Elena pacing around.

"He killed her. Damon was the vampire that killed her." She cried, seeing Malia approaching her. Stefan ran out and Ava slipped through the door as well before it banged shut.

"I don't know what happened. Alaric said that they never found the body." He explained quickly, as if that helped anything. Elena and Malia just stared at him.

"I know. I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you. But I just… I wanted to know more." He added. Malia's stare became a glare.

"And we didn't deserve to know, Stefan?" She demanded.

"I was feeling sorry for him, hoping that this whole Katherine thing would change him. I'm so stupid." Elena stammered.

"He doesn't know about the connection to you. I thought about confronting him, but he's already so on edge."

"So let's kick him off the edge and hope he falls to his death." Malia started back towards the Grill, but Ava stepped in front of her.

"You can't kill him in a crowded place. Think of all the witnesses!" That was why Malia loved Ava; she didn't say not to kill Damon, she just told her not to kill him in a crowded area.

"That man." They turned towards Elena as she spoke. Following her gaze, they saw a man standing on the other side of the street, watching them.

"I saw that man outside of Trudie's. He's the one that killed her." Elena explained.

"Get back inside. Come on." Stefan gently pushed Elena inside the Grill and, once Ava and Malia were inside, he followed.

* * *

Kelly walked over to Caroline at the ticket booth, holding her winning ticket. Caroline looked up from the quickly emptying basket of fries that sat between her and Jess and smiled.

"Congratulations, Ms. Donovan."

"Okay, just stop. Stop trying so hard. This thing you're doing, this nice thing, it's fake. Like you. Like your mom. And for some reason, Matt fell for it, but that doesn't mean that I will. I don't like you, okay? So tell plumber boy I'll be at the bar."

"Okay." Caroline whispered, hurt. Kelly stalked off. Jess went after her as Caroline buried her face in her hands. She caught up to Kelly at the bar. Kelly ordered a drink and took her seat.

"Ms. Donovan?" Kelly turned, sighing at the sight of the younger Forbes girl.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to respect my sister. You don't have to like her, but you do have to stop being a complete jerk to her."

"And you're her baby sister, right? Which means you have the same kind of fakeness as the rest of the Forbes..." Kelly shook her head, as if she was looking at some kind of tragedy.

"What is your problem with my family? Did my mother arrest you one too many times for your taste?" Jess demanded. Nothing brought out her boldness like someone insulting her family.

"Why don't you run back to your sister, honey? Maybe the two of you can play like your perfect princesses and ignore the world around you." Kelly made a 'shoo' motion with her hands. Jess hesitated, staring at Kelly, and then hurried off.

* * *

Elena ran right into Damon as she, Ava and Malia walked back into the Grill. Stefan was taking a look around, no doubt searching for vampires. Damon laughed when Elena bumped into him.

"Whoa. Easy there. Buy a ticket like everyone else."

"I'm going to kill you." Malia threatened, her hands clenched into fists. Ava cast a glance around to see if anyone was listening.

"Did you enjoy that? Rubbing it in to Alaric Saltzman?" Elena demanded.

"What?" Damon asked.

"Just as I was starting to think that there was something redeemable about you."

"Elena, Malia." Stefan walked over to them, staring at the Gilbert sisters. Ava looked around again to see if they were drawing attention. Stefan shook his head at Elena, reaching over to put a hand on Malia shoulder to restrain her. Damon looked at all of them in turn.

"Am I missing something here?"

"Did I forget to mention earlier when we were talking about my birth mother? The one that gave me up? Her name was Isobel." Elena growled at him. Damon's facial expression faltered.

"Go ahead. Reminisce about how you killed her." Elena purposely rammed into Damon's shoulder as she passed him. Stefan and Malia hurried after her. Ava went to follow but Damon grabbed one of her wrists. She yelped in pain and he quickly released the wrist that was still held in a cast. She held it against her chest, glaring at him.

"Did you know?"

"What was I supposed to do? I fell for your nice act once. The last time I told you something, you broke my wrist. Stay away from me. And my friends. And Stefan. Just… stay away from _everyone_." Ava hurried off.

* * *

Stefan, Elena and Malia were outside the Grill again, walking towards the parking lot.

"Come on. Let's get you home." Stefan told them needlessly. Elena stopped abruptly when she saw the man in front of her. Stefan went to stand slightly in front of Elena, placing his hand out to protect her. Malia growled, letting her fangs out.

"I have a message for you." The man spoke tonelessly.

"What?"

"Who are you?" Stefan demanded.

"Stop looking."

"Stop looking for what?" Malia asked.

"She doesn't want to know you. She doesn't want to talk to you."

"Isobel?" Elena asked.

"You need to stop looking. Do you understand?"

"She's alive? Does that mean she's a-." Elena started forward but Malia and Stefan stopped her.

"Elena, he's under compulsion." Stefan warned.

"Do you understand?"

"Yes. I do." Elena told him, confused.

"Good. I'm done now." The ban stepped backwards into the road. A truck blared its horn but ran over the man. Elena grabbed at Stefan, shocked. Malia ran over to the man and kneeled down beside him. Behind them, people were yelling.

"He's dead." She told Stefan and Elena as they caught up to her. Elena and Malia saw the phone beside him and Malia grabbed it, shoving it into the pocket of her jeans. Stefan took up, taking hold of Elena's arm. Malia stood up as well.

"Come on. Let's get out of here. Come on." The trio hurried away.

* * *

Ava walked into the Boarding House, closing the door behind her before going into the living room. Her eyes were on her phone, scanning the newest texts she received. Something crunched beneath her foot. She looked down at the glass beneath her, from the coffee table that had been intact last time she'd checked. Stefan was picking up the pieces of the coffee table on the other side of the room.

"What's going on?" She demanded, kicking the glass aside.

"Damon killed Alaric."

"Did he have vampire blood in his system? Is he going to become a vampire? Tell me I won't have to leave with another vampire, please!"

"He's fine. I don't know how or why, but… the ring he wears, it brought him back to life." Stefan explained, straightening up and frowning. Ava stared at him for a minute before speaking.

"Stefan, I love you but I'm not going to Mount Doom with you. And what's so special about the ring?"

"All I know is that Isobel gave it to him."

* * *

Jess and Caroline sat on the couch, a bowl of popcorn between them and the TV on in front of them.

"Thanks for sticking up for me." Caroline finally said.

"You would've done the same for me."

"Hopefully I won't have to." Caroline threw a piece of popcorn up and caught it in her mouth.

"Hopefully not… Have you noticed how weird Malia and Ava have been acting recently?"

"Are you still on that?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah, I mean, they're being really weird. Elena and Bonnie too." Jess pointed out. Caroline thought about it.

"They're hiding something from us… Get used to it. Apparently we're not the best friends of anyone except each other." Caroline said bitterly. Jess frowned at the thought, but had to admit it made sense. Ava and Malia were always together. Bonnie and Elena were always together. She looked over at Caroline.

"In that case, I'm glad you're my best friend." Caroline smiled at her.

"Me too."

* * *

Malia and Elena sat in Elena's room. Malia looked at one of the pictures on Elena's desk, depicting Jeremy, Elena, their parents and herself. Finally, they both looked at the phone lying on the bed.

"If you're not going to do it, I will." Malia jumped forward, sat on the bed next to Elena and grabbed the phone. She found the last umber dialed and called the number. She held the phone between them so they could both hear. Someone picked up after a few rings.

" _Was there a problem? Did you find her? What's going on?_ " A woman asked on the other end.

"Isobel?" Elena asked hopefully. Isobel hung up without another word. Elena and Malia exchanged looks and then Malia dropped the phone onto the bed again.


	23. Tomb Vampires

**A/N This is the full episode of 'There Goes the Neighborhood'.**

 **This is short, not my best work and jumps around a bit but there wasn't much for my three characters to do during this episode. I apologize in advance, but I hope future chapters will be better.**

* * *

Damon and Malia walked into the Salvatore Boarding House, neither one happy that the other one was there. _Grab the blood and leave,_ Malia reminded herself, not wanting to spend a second longer than necessary with the man who turned her mother into a vampire. They both stopped dead when Anna and Pearl were waiting for them.

"Hello, Damon, Malia." Pearl greeted them.

"Ever hear of knocking?" Damon asked her.

"Or calling before arriving?" Malia suggested, folding her arms across her chest. Pearl just smiled.

"An invitation wasn't necessary. I'm surprised that no living person resides here. Is it just you and your brother? I believe your niece lives here too, correct?"

"She doesn't legally own the house." Malia explained.

"How do you keep out unwelcome vampires?" Anna asked. Damon smirked.

"I kill them." Damon rushed forward and tried to strangle Pearl. She twisted his wrist and pushed him to the floor easily. Malia looked between the three much older vampires in slight surprise.

"Damon, I was hoping we could have a word."

"Sure." Damon agreed through clenched teeth.

"We've taken up residence at a farmhouse just outside the town. It'll suffice for now." Pearl explained.

"All twenty-five vampires?" Malia asked, her blue eyes widening.

"Not all, some. I imagine that a few have already left town. Others are probably still in the woods or like us acclimating."

"How did they get out of the tomb?" Damon demanded.

"I think the witch screwed up that part of her hocus pocus." Anna told him.

"I understand from Anna that the founding families still have a secret council?" Pearl asked.

"And you're a part of it." Anna added.

"That's ridiculous." Damon scoffed.

"I've been in Mystic Falls since the comet, Damon. I'm up to speed."

"And so am I. And now that you've infiltrated the council, I'll need to know everything they know. Starting with a listing names of all the council members and their families." Pearl told him.

"And everyone you've supplied with Vervain." Anna added.

"Yes, that will have to stop immediately." Pearl agreed.

"You're not going near the founding families and you're not in charge here." Malia stepped forward and Anna moved to stand between her and her mother.

"Is this is a challenge?" Malia asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I'm older than you." Anna reminded her.

"Look, short-stuff-." Malia started. Anna grabbed her by the throat, cutting her off. Malia gasped for breath, clawing at Anna's hand, but couldn't get free.

"What exactly are you trying to achieve?" Damon asked. Anna released Malia, giving her a light push to send her to the floor. Malia stayed there, coughing.

"Mystic Falls is our home, Damon. They took that from us. Our land, our home. It's time we rebuild." Pearl explained, completely ignoring Anna and Malia.

"What, are you crazy? It was eighteen sixty four. Wake up woman. The world has moved on." Damon told her.

"As a reward for your help I'm willing to give you what you want most." Pearl told him. Malia was on her feet again and rushed at Anna. When they collided, they both hit the floor. Malia got in several hard punches before Anna kicked her off.

"I want nothing." Damon told Pearl calmly.

"Katherine."

"You wouldn't even know where she was. You've been under the ground for the last century and a half."

"Katherine and I were best friends long before we came to Mystic Falls, Damon. I know how she thinks, I know her patterns, I know where to find her." Pearl assured him. Damon glanced over as Anna threw Malia into a wall, shattering a picture frame protecting what looked like a very expensive art piece.

"Children!" Pearl scolded. Anna stopped, her hand raised to punch Malia again, and backed away. Malia coughed up blood and rolled onto her back, her face bloody from the fight.

"I no longer have any desire to see Katherine ever again. And there's no way I'm gonna play the role of your little minion." Damon told her.

"I'm not asking for your help, Damon. Finding Katherine was just a mere gesture of kindness. The rest is non negotiable." Pearl pushed her thumbs into Damon's eyes, causing him to fall to his knees. Malia crawled backwards until her back was against the wall, watching in shock.

"I have four hundred years on you, little boy. I'll rip you from limb to limb without even blinking and you know it. I'll be in touch." Pearl released Damon and then she and Anna strode from the house. Malia watched them leave and then pushed herself to her feet, wiping blood from her nose and mouth.

"Damon?" She edged forward and looked at him. His face was buried in his hands and blood streamed from between his fingers.

"I… hate…them." He growled.

"The feeling is mutual." She went and hit the door with her open palm, knocking it shut. Then she went back over to Damon, grabbed his elbow and pulled him to his feet, helping him over to the couch.

"I hate you, but that was gross and you have my sympathy." She said, grimacing at the blood on his hands.

"Gee, thanks."

"Uh… will that heal?" She asked.

"Eventually." He ground out.

"Then I'm leaving." She darted down to the basement, grabbed a blood bag from the freezer and returned to the living room to grab her bag. Casting one last glance at the injured Damon, she shook her head at herself and then hurried out of the Boarding House.

* * *

Catching Jeremy at the Gilbert House was easy for Malia; it wasn't like he had a social life to get him out of the house.

"Hey, I want to talk to you." She told him. He looked up from the sandwich he was making.

"This can't be good."

"You're very observant. Your new girlfriend, Anna, right?"

"She's, uh, not really my girlfriend-." He started.

"Stop hanging out with her."

"Excuse me?" He raised an eyebrow at her, as if he had heard her wrong.

"I've seen her out and about… not a good person. Just, please, trust me on this one." Malia already knew that she was going about this all wrong, but she was never one for subtly. She wanted to get the point across as soon as possible and as clearly as possible. Jeremy let out a small, forced laugh.

"You're hilarious, thinking you run everything." He told her angrily.

"I don't run _everything_ , just the things that I need to. Your safety is one of the things I have to take care of."

"What, is Anna a serial killer?" Jeremy asked sarcastically. _Probably, yes,_ Malia thought but managed to keep from coming out of her mouth. Jeremy brushed past her and stomped up the stairs.

"Great sister-ing. You're a genius." Malia told herself, rolling her eyes.

* * *

Caroline walked into the Forbes house, locking the door behind her out of habit. Then she turned to look around the living room.

"Jess?" She called out.

"Kitchen!"

"Food, excellent idea." Caroline walked into the kitchen, surveyed the bag of popcorn Jess was pulling out of the microwave to make sure it wasn't burned and then took it from her.

"Oooh, bad double date?" Jess asked.

"It was a horrible idea to begin with." Caroline told her, shaking her head. She ripped open the bag but hissed in pain when she burned herself in the process. She put it on the counter to cool.

"Matt is always going to be in love with Elena… I'm the back-up. And then we caught Kelly making out with Damon. Full blown make-out session too."

"Ew."

"Agreed."

"And you're not the backup, Caroline."

"Oh, I'm totally the backup." The girls wandered into the living room and collapsed on the couch. Caroline grabbed a handful of popcorn.

"Make sure that your future perfect boyfriend has a hot older brother for me."

* * *

Ava walked into the Boarding House with Stefan trailing behind her. She'd heard about the double date horror story and was more than a little disturbed to see Damon in the living room. Stefan gave him a dirty look.

"Don't look at me like that." Damon snapped at him.

"Are you crazy?" Stefan demanded.

"Save the lecture. Look-." The window imploded inwards as a vampire jumped through it. Ava let out a shriek, stumbling backwards. The vampire stabbed Stefan with a piece of glass right before Damon grabbed him and started fighting with him. Ava rushed over to Stefan and yanked the piece of glass out of his stomach, ignoring how it cut into her hands. A female vampire grabbed her from behind, her fangs extended. Stefan grabbed the leg off a wooden chair and stabbed her through the heart from behind. She collapsed on the floor, nearly dragging Ava with her. Ava scrambled behind Stefan for protection as the male vampire was thrown across the room by Damon. The vampire looked between the two Salvatore brothers and then at the dead female vampire on the floor. He darted off, a blur of speed. Stefan looked at Damon.

"I remember them from eighteen sixty four. They were in the tomb."

"Yeah... About that."


	24. Into the Storm

**A/N Part one of 'Let the Right One In'**

* * *

Malia woke up with a jerk, looking around to see what had woken her up. Lightning cracked outside, soon followed by thunder. She kicked her blankets off of her and padded barefoot down the short flight of stairs. She heard a steady heartbeat and low footsteps that had to come from Elena. She turned the corner into the hallway and Elena jumped at the sudden appearance of her twin.

"Jeez! Can you be a little louder?" She asked, her hand going to her chest.

"Sorry." Malia said in it an amused tone, which meant she wasn't going to be any louder next time.

"A storm's coming in. Can you help me make sure all the windows are shut?" Elena had barely finished speaking before Malia darted off. A second later, she returned.

"They're shut."

"Be careful! I don't want Jenna and Jeremy finding out!" Elena scolded.

"They won't, not from me anyway." Malia assured her. Elena nodded and turned to go back to her bedroom.

"I hope the storm blows off by morning." Malia murmured. Elena stopped and turned back to her.

"What, a vampire that wants the sun to come out?"

"The tomb vampires don't have daylight rings. If the sun's not out, they are."

* * *

Elena, Stefan, Ava and Malia watched as Damon boarded up the window that the vampires had broken through.

"I say we go to Pearl's, bust down the door and annihilate the idiot that attacked us last night." Damon was saying.

"Yeah. And then what? We turn to the rest of that house of vampires and say, 'Oops. Sorry'?" Stefan asked.

"Besides, they're older than you and stronger and faster and there's an army of them and it's a stupid idea all around." Ava said quickly, fidgeting with her Vervain necklace nervously.

"I can't believe you made a deal with her." Elena added.

"It was more like a helpful exchange of information. And it's not like I had a choice. She's… scary. Besides, she's gonna help me get Katherine back." Damon reminded her.

"Scary part? Agreed. But you had a choice, Damon." Malia reminded him.

"Anna was kicking you to kingdom come and I had Pearl's thumbs in my eyeballs… No, I didn't have a choice." Damon shot back.

"Damon gets what he wants, as usual. No matter who he hurts in the process." Elena muttered.

"You don't have to be snarky about it."

"I've earned snarky."

"How long are you going to blame me for turning your birth mother into a vampire?"

"I'm not blaming you, Damon. I've accepted the fact that you're a self-serving psychopath with no redeeming qualities."

"Ouch."

"This isn't being very productive." Ava put in, glancing around the room at the supernatural creatures gathered there for the sole purpose of arguing, as it seemed. Damon left the room. Malia rolled her eyes, grabbed her bag, mumbled her goodbyes and left. Ava went to walk her out as Stefan and Elena talked.

"Be careful, alright? I'm worried enough as it is. Caroline and Jess are going to visit their dad, so they'll be out of town but there are still a lot of people that could get hurt with the tomb vampires out today." Ava reminded her as they paused by the front door.

"If I run into a vampire, I'll stake him."

"Don't get cocky." Ava told her quietly. Malia rolled her eyes.

"Cocky is what I do." She pulled her hood up and walked out into the rain. Ava shut the door behind her.

* * *

Caroline made her way to the car, hurrying to climb inside to avoid the rain. She shook the droplets of rain that had made it past her hood into her hair and looked over at Jess.

"Okay, now we can go."

"You saw Matt?"

"Saw, spoke to, kissed… I'm good." Caroline said with a giggle. Jess smiled and put on her seatbelt again. Of course the one day they actually went to see their dad was when it was pouring rain. Caroline pulled out of the parking lot of the Grill and drove on with the windshield wipers already on to combat the downpour. Jess pulled her jacket closer around her and hoped that the weather would be better where they were going.

* * *

Elena glanced down at her ringing phone, suspecting Damon for the seventh time. It was Ava. She frowned and answered it.

"Hello?"

" _You're ignoring me_." Damon. There was a knock on the door.

" _Don't suppose you feel like letting me in_?" He added. She sighed and opened the door. He walked in, tossing the phone back to Ava, who scurried in behind him.

"Is Stefan here?" Ava asked immediately.

"No. Why? Something wrong?"

"He went out in the woods and didn't come back. I can't get him on his phone. I figured he was here with you." Damon explained. Elena was already trying to call him.

"It's going straight to voice-mail. Where could he be?" Damon grimaced.

"You're not going to like what I'm thinking."

"Damon?" Elena pressed. He looked over at Ava.

"Get in the car." He ordered.

"Damon?!" Elena rushed after him, following him to the porch.

"If you're going to find Stefan, I'm coming to!" He stopped and looked between her and Ava.

"As long as you stay in the car. We don't know for sure that Stefan's even with the tomb vampires, alright? If both of you get killed, Stefan's going to hunt me down and rip out my heart." Damon told them. Ava and Elena exchanged looks, both thinking about it. Then they both nodded.

"Good. Get in the car."

* * *

Elena and Ava sat in Damon's car, waiting for him to return. Ava sat in the backseat, leaning forward so that she could see out Elena's side window.

"He'll be fine." Ava eventually told her. Elena looked at her in surprise. That was the shortest, most sincere sentence Elena had ever heard her speak. Ava gave her a nod which Elena echoed, hoping she right. Elena spotted Damon approaching, grabbed her umbrella and got out. Ava got out after her, huddling close to her to keep under her umbrella and out of the rain, and they met Damon halfway to the car.

"What happened? Where is he?" Elena asked at once.

"They have him. I can't get in."

"Why not?"

"Because the woman who owns the house is compelled to not let me in."

"I can get in." Ava started forward but Damon grabbed her by the arm, perhaps applying more pressure than necessary, and held her back.

"You're not going in there."

"We can both go!" Elena started to walk around him on the other side and he grabbed her too.

"You're not going in there." He told them firmly.

"Why are they doing this? What do they want with him?" Ava jerked her arm free of Damon's grip and folded her arm across her chest. Rain streaked down her face, flattened her hair, and she was hunched over herself to try and keep warm; she looked even smaller than normal.

"Revenge. They want revenge." Damon explained.

"We gotta do something." Elena protested.

"I know."

"We can't let them hurt him. We gotta get him out of there." She was growing frantic, panicked by the thought of them torturing Stefan.

"I know. Elena, I know. But I don't know how to get him out."

"If you don't want us going in there, then you need another human who can help." Ava told him. They both looked at her.

"How about a vampire hunter?"

* * *

Alaric stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Damon waiting for him in the school hallway, a smirk on his face.

"Well, don't you look... alive?" Damon asked.

"You can't hurt me."

"Oh, I can hurt you, all right." Elena, Malia and Ava walked over to him. Elena was the one that actually spoke:

"Mr. Saltzman. We need your help."

* * *

The five of them gathered in Alaric's classroom to talk.

"Stefan's in the house. Damon's a vampire. He can't get in. We need you. I would go, but..." Elena trailed off.

"But your life is valuable. Yours, on the other hand is..." Damon trailed off, his point made.

"Ava and Stefan told me about your ring." Elena explained.

"What about it?"

"Let me recap… You tried to kill me. I defended myself. You died. Then according to my brother, your ring brought you back to life. Am I leaving anything out?" Damon asked.

"Yeah. The part where I try and kill you again. Only this time, I don't miss." Alaric snapped.

"Hey! This isn't about anyone other than Stefan, stop acting like five year olds!" Ava came as close to yelling as she ever did and everyone looked at her in shock.

"I'm sorry. But it's not my problem." Alaric said carefully.

"That's a shame. Because the woman in charge of the crowd can help you find your wife." Damon told him.

"You're lying."

"Am I? Why don't you ask her for yourself? Coward. Come on, girls." Damon started to walk out of the room. Elena followed and Malia and Ava reluctantly started to get up as well. Alaric grimaced and then spoke:

"All right! Wait. I'll go." Elena and Damon walked back into the classroom. Alaric started rooting through his desk, pulling out his arsenal of vampire weapons. Malia and Damon watched, more than a little disturbed.

"Teacher by day, vampire hunter by night." Damon murmured.

"I've got you to thank for that." Alaric shot back.

"What are these?" Elena asked, picking up one of the objects.

"Those are tranquilizer darts filled with Vervain." He explained.

"Just get me and Gilbert Barbie in. We'll get Stefan out." Damon told him.

"That's your plan? You're just gonna take them all on yourself?" Elena asked.

"Well, we'll be a bit stealthier than that, but thanks for the faith." Malia told her sarcastically. Ava grabbed one of the Vervain darts, putting it on her pocket.

"Whoa. What are you doing?" Alaric asked.

"I'm going with you guys. Stefan's a part of my family and I don't trust you." She shot at Damon.

"No. No. No. No. No way." Damon told her.

"I wasn't asking." Damon turned to Alaric, as if Ava no longer existed. Elena grabbed one of the darts from the desk as well and the human girls exchanged looks.

"So, when you get us in, get out as quickly as you can. Malia and I can sneak around where they can't hear us. You'll basically just be in the way." Damon told Alaric.

"Damon… now is not the time to be the lone ranger." Elena told him.

"I got Silver." He motioned to Malia.

"Why am I the horse?" Malia demanded.

"You can drive the getaway car." Damon told Elena and Ava, looking between them. Alaric interrupted any further comments.

"If we're gonna go, let's go."

* * *

Caroline held her phone to her ear to talk to Matt, driving with one hand. Jess looked paler than usual and she was sure that they were going to be dead before their got off the road.

" _Where are you? I can barely hear you._ " Matt complained over the phone.

"Storm washed out Route 5… Now I'm detoured on some random backwoods path to heck…" Caroline muttered.

" _Well, you shouldn't be talking while you're driving_."

"I told her that!" Jess said, speaking loudly so that he could hear her.

"I need one of those little blue-tooth thingies." Caroline added.

" _Look, you're breaking up. Just turn around and go back the same way you came. And watch the road. Okay?_ " Matt asked.

"Okay." Caroline hung up and put her phone back in her purse.

"This was a bad idea." Jess warned.

"Don't freak out on me; we'll be fine." Caroline assured her. Jess nodded. _She's right, be optimistic, don't think about what could go wrong,_ Jess told herself, closing her eyes and trying to relax. The car slowly stopped. Jess opened her eyes.

"What just happened?"

"Mud." Caroline spat out, opening her door and leaning out to see. She leaned back in and pulled it shut again. She tried her phone but couldn't get a signal.

"Ugh. Try yours." She told Jess.

"Murphy's Law."

"What?"

"What can go wrong, will go wrong… I don't have a signal either." She reported. Caroline groaned.

"I'm going to walk around, see if I can get a signal." She said, unbuckling her seatbelt with another groan of complaint.

"Wait; let's just see if we can push the car out first."

"It looks pretty stuck." Caroline told her.

"Let's try." Jess could just imagine how that phone call would go; 'hey, mom, the car got stuck in the mud when we were going to visit our dad, whom you hate, so can you take a break from work, which you love, to come get your daughters, whom your feelings for are unclear?'. Caroline thought about it for a second and then nodded.

"Alright, fine." The sisters got out of the car, examined the back closely and then they started pushing. After a few seconds, Caroline stopped.

"It isn't going to work like this. Get in the car and try the gas while I push." Jess climbed into the driver's seat and put her foot on the gas pedal as Caroline pushed. A second later, she released the pedal at the sound of Caroline's shriek. She got out of the car and looked at her sister, who was now covered in mud. Caroline tried to brush herself off, but it didn't work.

"Sorry." Jess apologized. Caroline just shook her head.

"Let's try to get a signal." The two girls wandered around, waving their phones around, trying to receive the tiniest bit of signal.

"Got anything?" Caroline called from one side of the road.

"Nothing!" Jess yelled back. She took a step forward and her feet slid out from under her. She let out a scream as she slid down towards the bank of the river. She stopped at the bottom of the hill with a thump, her head connected with an exposed rock. Caroline ran to the top of the hill, grabbing a tree to keep her balance.

"Jess? JESS?!" Caroline didn't get a response; her sister was unconscious. She started down the hill, trying to move as carefully as possible. The last thing they needed was for her to knock herself out too. Her foot hit something and she fell, but caught herself on the very thing that had tripped her. A human arm. More of the body was pulled out; exposing enough for her to realize it was none other than Vicki Donovan. She screamed and let go. She rolled and narrowly missed colliding with Jess at the bottom.

"Vicki…" She breathed. She turned to her sister.

"Jess?!" Still nothing. Caroline grabbed her phone; it had a signal _now_. She dialed quickly and put the phone to her ear. If anything could get her mother to rush down there, it was a decomposing body and the fact that her two daughters were practically trapped at the bottom of the hill…


	25. Rescue Me

**A/N This is the final part of 'Let the Right One In'.**

 **This is chapter twenty five and I'm not even done with the first season yet! As I intend to go through all the episodes in all the seasons, obviously this is going to be a long fan-fiction, longer than I originally suspected.**

 **Anyway, thank you for the views and reviews I've gotten so far. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Alaric opened the door. Malia and Damon were standing on the porch, looking not unlike drowned rats at the moment. Miss Gibbons just shook her head and looked at Alaric.

"Oh, I'm sorry. He's not allowed in the house."

"Am I allowed in?" Malia asked sweetly.

"Of course, dear, come in." Malia stepped inside, shooting a triumphant look at Damon over her shoulder. Damon rolled his eyes.

"Get her out of the house. Now!" Alaric shoved Miss Gibbons out of the house and Damon looked her in the eyes.

"Miss Gibbons, tell me the truth. Are you married?"

"No."

"Parents, children, anyone else who lives on this property?"

"No. It's just me."

"No? Good." Damon snapped her neck and let her body fall to the porch.

"You were supposed to compel her!" Alaric protested.

"It doesn't work that way..."

"She is human."

"And I'm not! So, I don't care. Now, get out of here. And get rid of the body!" Damon ordered. Alaric walked out onto the porch as Damon walked in, shutting the door behind him.

"Billy, what's the holdup?!" A voice called from the living room. Damon ducked into the pantry and Malia dropped to her knees behind the island counter. A vampire walked into the kitchen, turned off the sink and blender and then looked around, confused. He started to walk around the island and Malia stuck her leg out. He tripped and hit the floor. Damon burst out of the pantry and staked him. He looked at Malia, leaning in closer so that he could whisper:

"Let's go."

* * *

Elena and Ava jumped onto the porch, hugging the wall to keep themselves hidden. Alaric was gone; no doubt he'd be back at the car and notice their disappearance shortly. Ava ran past the back door and went to the door that led to the cellar. Elena took a deep breath and followed. Ava tried to open it, but it was locked. She grimaced and then busted out one of the windowpanes with her elbow. As she brushed the glass from her sleeve, Elena stuck her arm through carefully and unlocked the door. She pushed it open and the two girls hurried inside. A vampire was standing guard by a door at the end of the hallway. Ava and Elena held up their Vervain darts and nodded to each other. They were just about to attack when Malia darted over and staked the vampire in the chest. Damon hurried down the stairs behind her and caught sight of Elena and Ava.

"Are you insane?"

"We couldn't just wait in the car!" Ava protested.

"Ava's related to you, Elena's related to me… Did you really think they wouldn't share in our rebelliousness?" Malia asked. Damon rolled his eyes and went into the next room. The girls followed him and saw Stefan strung up with ropes.

"Elena… you shouldn't be here…"

"They were supposed to stay in the car." Damon told him, going to stake a vampire tied up in a chair.

"No, no, no. Not him." Stefan protested weakly.

"Whatever. Let's get you down."

"There's Vervain on the ropes."

"Ava, pull that." Damon ordered. Ava pulled the ropes and they released him. Elena and Malia caught him, lowering him to his knees as Elena quickly tossed away the ropes.

"All right, let's go. Clothes on." Damon ordered, throwing Stefan his shirt. Elena and Ava helped him to his feet as Malia darted to the doorway, keeping a lookout for any vampires that might come.

"Wait."

"What? Guys, come on. We have to get out of here." Stefan and Elena pulled the stakes out of the other vampire's legs, freeing him.

"Come on, we gotta go." Damon insisted.

"Can you get him in the car?" Malia asked, turning towards them.

"Yeah." Ava and Elena said at the same time.

"All right, go." Damon ordered.

"What about you guys?"

"We're the masters of chaos, Elena. We'll distract them. Go." Malia insisted. Elena and Ava helped Stefan out of the cellar through the side door as Malia and Damon headed back up into the house. Malia twirled her slim stake around her hand and darted across the hallway, staking a vampire quickly and disappearing into the kitchen. Frederick walked into the hallway and saw the staked vampire.

"Spread out. Now. You two, back of the house. Go. Check out both rooms. Cellar, now!"

* * *

Ava and Elena tried to share Stefan's weight between them, but there was only so far the two girls could practically carry him.

"Can you make it?" Elena asked Stefan. They fell to the ground and Elena's hand was sliced up on a rock.

"You okay?" Stefan asked weakly.

"Yeah. Come on, keep going. Come on." They pulled Stefan up and kept going.

* * *

Frederick saw another staked vampire in the dining room and growled under his breath. Malia jumped over the kitchen table and knocked him to the ground, immediately trying to hit him any place she could. He threw her off and bared his fangs at her. She did the same, smiling slightly. Fighting was what she did best, even if this vampire happened to have over a century on her. Two vampires threw Damon into the hallway and both he and Malia got up. Frederick ran off as the two tomb vampires attacked. Malia blocked a hit with her wrist and kicked out, sending the vampire stumbling back. She dove for the stake that was on the floor, but the other vampire got their first. He tried to stab it into her heart but she grabbed his hands and held it back. He tried harder and gained ground. She kicked up and he fell over from the force of the kick to the head. A Vervain dart sunk into his back. Malia looked up at Alaric in surprise. Damon snapped the neck of the second vampire.

"I'm going after Frederick!"

* * *

Ava ran to the driver's side of the car. The keys were gone from the ignition. She stooped down, searching for them on the floor and on the seat but then straightened up as Elena helped Stefan lean against the other side of the car.

"Uh… Problem." She whimpered. Frederick darted over, grabbing Stefan and throwing him to the ground. He started beating on him.

"This is for Beth-Anne!" Frederick stabbed Stefan with a branch.

"And this is for the tomb-." Elena plunged the Vervain dart into Frederick's back. He groaned and fell over. Elena kneeled down next to Stefan and yanked the branch out of his stomach.

"Stefan…"

* * *

Alaric fumbled as he reloaded his dart gun. A vampire came up behind him and he whirled around. Malia was already handling the situation; a hard throat punch followed by a stake to the heart was all that was needed. Damon came back into the hallway.

"Frederick's gone."

"Let's get out of here." Alaric told them.

"I'm gonna kill him." Damon growled as they left the house. They stopped on the porch, watching the dozen or more vampires approaching.

"How many of those Vervain darts do you have left?" Damon asked.

"One."

"Not gonna be enough."

"We can stake them." Malia started forward, only to be grabbed by Damon and Alaric.

"Are you crazy? Run!" They dragged her back into the house.

* * *

Jess and Caroline stood on the porch of the Donovan house. Sheriff Forbes rang the doorbell and waited. Jess had a cut on her forehead that had taken quite a few stitches, but otherwise they were more shaken up than hurt. They were both wrapped up in over-sized jackets bearing the name of the police station. Matt opened the door.

"What happened to you?" He asked, frowning.

"Hey, Matt." Sheriff Forbes greeted him gravely.

"Hey. What's going on?"

"Is your mom home?"

* * *

Ava kneeled down beside Elena and Stefan.

"Elena!" She warned. Elena followed her eyes and saw that Frederick was getting up. She put her cut hand to Stefan's mouth.

"Here."

"Elena, please run." He moaned.

"No."

"Please."

"Stefan. My wrist. Here. Take my wrist. You need more blood."

"Go, Elena. Run!"

"No. I trust you."

* * *

Pearl and Anna walked into the house and looked around the dead bodies. They looked at the two vampires and the hunter waiting in the front hallway for them.

"What's going on here? What did you do?" Pearl demanded.

"Me? Your merry little band of vampires spent the day torturing my brother!" Damon shot back.

"Trust me. The parties responsible for this will be dealt with." Pearl assured him.

"Our little arrangement doesn't work unless you learn to control them." Damon reminded her.

"This wasn't supposed to happen."

"Well, it did. If I had a good side... Not a way to get on it." The trio slipped past her into the kitchen, making their escape through the back door.

* * *

Ava and Elena kneeled behind the car, waiting for Stefan to deal with Frederick. After a minute, Elena stood up and looked over the top of the car.

"Stefan… Stefan!" Ava stood up too as Stefan repeated stabbed Frederick in the heart. Elena ran over to him. Stefan whirled around, his face still in its vampire form. Elena stepped back. Immediately, Stefan stopped, looking horrified with himself. He let Frederick's body drop to the ground. Malia, Alaric and Damon ran over to them.

"Get the car." Damon ordered, not pausing to wonder what had happened.

* * *

Caroline brought a cup of coffee to Matt as he sat on his bed.

"I made you some coffee."

"Thanks." He took the cup.

"Are you… is there anything I can do?"

"I just, uh… I need to be alone right now." Caroline nodded and left the room. She went over to Jess, who was sitting in the kitchen. Sheriff Forbes was talking with Kelly, Mayor Lockwood, Tyler and Jeremy in the living room. Elena went to go talk to Matt, something that didn't escape Caroline's notice. She shook her head; Elena wasn't her biggest problem. She sat down at the kitchen table next to Jess.

"Are you okay?" She whispered. Jess shook her head, then grimaced and rested her hand on the cut. Her hair was limp from the rain and now looked more like the color of dirt rather than the luscious strawberry red it normally sported. She was still wrapped in the jacket three sizes too big for her.

"Something is very wrong in this town…"


	26. John

**A/N This is the full episode of 'Under Control'**

* * *

"Come on, Jeremy, going to school! Walking out the door now!" Elena called upstairs. Jeremy and Malia ran down the stairs at top speeds, playfully pushing each other to get down first. Malia made it to the bottom of the stairs first and Jeremy veered to avoid her, rushing into the kitchen instead. Elena rolled her eyes and opened the door. They both stared at John, who lowered his hand, having been about to knock.

"Elena, Malia!" He greeted them.

"Uncle John, hi." Elena returned.

"Uncle John, _why_?" Malia added. Jenna walked up behind them and John looked over at her.

"Jenna."

"John, you made it." Jenna sounded a tad disappointed by that.

"I said I'd be here before noon." He stepped into the house and closed the door behind them. Malia raised an eyebrow. Apparently manners were just as dead as she was.

"Oh, what you say and what you do are typically two very different things." Jenna told him. Jeremy walked out from the kitchen.

"Uncle John, what's up?"

"Hey!" Jeremy slapped him on the shoulder and left the house.

"I had some business in town; I thought that a visit was in order." John announced, looking at the three women.

"How long are you staying?" Elena asked, still trying to smile.

"I don't know yet."

"Okay, well, I'm gonna go to school, I'll see you later." Elena hurried out the open door. Malia stooped to grab her bag from the floor by the door, where she usually dumped it after a long day.

"So what's up with Jeremy?" John asked.

"He just lost a friend. Be sensitive." Malia told him, slinging her bag over her shoulder. John laughed.

"I'm always sensitive."

"Right…" Malia agreed sarcastically.

"I'm going to go too." She added to Jenna. Jenna nodded and closed the door behind her as Malia retreated from Uncle John.

* * *

Ava and Malia stood near Ava's locker as she reorganized her books.

"He said his trip is open ended."

"Uncle John… You never really liked him, did you?"

"No one likes him." Malia told her.

"Well, I'm here for moral support if you need me."

"If his open ended trip goes on any longer, I might want my room back at the Boarding House."

"It's free for your and, lucky for you, your Uncle has neither reason nor invitation to come to the Boarding House." Ava explained.

"Well, he had no invitation or reason to come to my house, so…" Malia trailed off, her point made.

"He didn't say why he was there?"

"Oh, I know why he's here. Elena, Jeremy and I are supposed to be the legal owners of dad's old clinic, which Jenna wants to sell to some woman since we don't use it and we could use the cash. But, and here's the good part, we're minors so the final say goes to John."

"And?" Ava pressed.

"He said no and apparently has come to explain in detail to Jenna why he's not going to let her sell the clinic."

"Charming guy."

"You're being rather short today." Malia noted.

"With all that's going on… I rarely have the energy to talk a lot and… hey, are Matt and Elena hanging out?" Malia followed Ava's eyes to see that Matt and Elena were indeed talking to each other by Matt's locker.

"Maybe they're become friends again." Ava mused.

"If they do, we can chalk that up to _one_ thing that's gone right in Mystic Falls."

"Speaking of things that aren't going right… Stefan's acting weird. Like _really_ weird." Ava explained.

"Like… luring squirrels into his dark van weird or-."

"Like he's avoiding me constantly, he's not at school today and even Damon told me to lay low around him."

"Since when does Damon protect you?" Malia asked, frowning.

"I think he's trying to freak me out more than anything else but its working…"

* * *

Malia followed Elena and Jeremy at a safe distance, listening to them talking as they strolled through the woods.

"I just can't believe mom and dad never told you that you were adopted." Jeremy was saying.

"I'm sure they would have eventually."

"Why were you worried about what I thought?"

"Because… I don't know. It's weird. Going you're whole life thinking you're related by blood to someone."

"Does it bug you that we're not?"

"No, Jer… you're my brother, that's all that matters."

"That's kind of what I told Malia when she told me you guys were adopted." Elena stopped and looked at him.

"What?"

"Oh, yeah, I've known as long as Malia and you have." He explained. Malia ran forward and caught up them, knocking into Jeremy and surprising both of them.

"You didn't invite me on the sibling walk. I was offended." She complained, pretending to pout. Elena and Jeremy laughed and the three of them kept walking.

"I can't believe you told him and didn't tell me you told him."

"You didn't ask."

"Are you pulling that card?"

"Yep." Elena rolled her eyes again.

"So, Mr. Saltzman said you've been doing great in history now." Elena changed the subject.

"Yeah, yeah he's really been helping me out. He gave me some extra credit and stuff." Jeremy explained.

"He loved your vampire paper."

"He thought I had a clever angle."

"What made you want to write about vampires?" Malia asked, hooking her arm in his.

"I don't know… boredom or maybe I'm just as nuts as the long line of Gilbert crazies." He shrugged it off.

"Gilberts aren't crazy." Elena protested.

"Easy for you guys to say; you're not Gilberts." Elena and Malia stopped walking.

"Ouch." Elena complained. Malia hit Jeremy in the shoulder, causing him to stumble forward, and both sisters ran after him.

* * *

Ava glanced around the large room. The Founder's Day one hundred and fiftieth anniversary kick-off party was in full swing. Ava tugged on her Vervain necklace nervously.

"I shouldn't be here." Stefan groaned.

"Come on, don't be a downer, it's a party for the founding families! That would be us. That would be rude to skip it."

"I really liked you a whole lot better when you hated everybody." Ava hissed at him.

"Oh I still do. I just love that they love me."

"How are you feeling?" Ava asked Stefan.

"I'm good, I'm fine."

"No cravings? No urges? Is that whiskey you've been drinking all day doing its job? We are who we are, Stefan. Nothing's gonna change that."

"Nothing will make you happier to just see me giving up, huh, Damon?" Stefan shot back.

"Whatever, it's inevitable."

"Well, I'm gonna find Elena." Stefan walked away and Damon called after him:

"Don't embarrass me, young man!"

* * *

Malia smoothed out the skirt of her dress (because wearing jeans to a party like that was practically forbidden) and sat down on the couch next to Jeremy.

"I heard you were talking with Sheriff Forbes."

"No one is trying to figure out what happened to her. They all want to believe that she OD'ED."

"The coroner's office confirmed it. If that's what they said happened then…"

"Is that what you believe?" Jeremy demanded.

"What do you think happened?" She challenged.

"I think somebody killed her and buried her body and I don't think we should write it off just cause it's easy"

"They're just doing what they can to move on. Like you becoming a punk and me having panic attacks."

"This isn't a joke!"

"I'm aware." Malia shot back.

"The truth is the only thing that's gonna help people to move on." Jeremy said after a minute. He got up and walked away.

* * *

Mayor Lockwood stood on the makeshift stage, addressing the crowd. Malia stood near Alaric, watching in boredom.

"Thank you all, thank you very much, thank you. Thank you all for joining us tonight in just a few moments we will officially begin the countdown to our upcoming founders' day celebration and it's a very special one this year. The one hundred fiftieth birthday of our town and I would like to welcome back one of our town favorite's sons to do the honors of ringing our official charter bell. John Gilbert, would you please join me up here?" There was a small amount of applause as John stepped up to join the mayor.

"One hundred and fifty years of community, prosperity, family. We take care of each other, we look after each other, protect each other… it's good to be home." Everyone broke out in applause. Damon walked over to Alaric and Malia.

"Look at his right hand."

"Whose?" Alaric asked.

"Towns favorite son... Look at his ring." As John was ringing the official charter bell, Malia and Alaric got a good look at his ring.

"Well, it looks like mine." Alaric murmured.

"Yeah, and that would be a big coincidence if he didn't just came back from the dead five minutes ago."

"What?" Malia demanded, struggling to keep her voice down. She grabbed him by the collar and hauled him into an empty hallway. Alaric followed and pulled her off Damon.

"What did you do?!" Malia demanded.

"He knows about vampires. He's part of the founder's council that hunts them." Damon shot back. She swallowed hard. _I'm living in the same house as a vampire hunter,_ she thought to herself. She glanced back out into the other room, where John was smiling on stage, as if everything was normal.

"Where did you get that ring?" Damon asked Alaric.

"Isobel, my wife."

"Who gave birth to Elena and Malia… under the medical care of the esteemed Doctor Grayson Gilbert, John's brother…"

"Do you think John knew Isobel?" Malia asked.

"I think John knows a lot of things."


	27. Bloodlines

**A/N This is the full episode of 'Miss Mystic Falls'.**

* * *

"This is going to be weird." Jess protested.

"Well, we both know that I'm going to win anyway, so don't worry about it." Caroline returned.

"Thanks." Jess said sarcastically. They were both on the list for the Founder's Court but there could be only one Miss Mystic Falls. Caroline grabbed Jess's arm, stopping her.

"Look!" Bonnie and Elena were walking out of the school. Caroline hurried over to them, dragging Jess along with her.

"Bonnie! Bonnie! Thank god you're home!" She cried, hugging Bonnie.

"I know we talked everyday but I missed you." She added, pulling away. Jess gave her a quick hug as Caroline continued:

"How are you doing?"

"Better. Better. You know, glad to be back and trying to keep myself busy." Bonnie explained.

"Well, I can help with that. Major wardrobe problem. You need to help me pick up the perfect dress for the Founder's court."

"The Founder's court? Did I miss something?" Elena asked.

"The Founder's court! You know, Miss Mystic Falls. They announced it today and you and I are both on it." Caroline explained.

"Oh! We signed up for that so long ago… I completely forgot."

"So, are you dropping out then?" Caroline sounded a bit too hopeful.

"I can't."

"No?"

"Her mom is the one who wanted her to enter." Bonnie explained.

"Oh… Well, best of luck to you." Caroline forced out the words and then turned and walked away. Jess turned and followed her.

"So you have no problem competing with me but you do with Elena?"

"Elena isn't my sister."

"No offense, but you're always competitive with Elena." Jess pointed out. Caroline sighed.

"I know. I'm horrible."

"That's not what I meant, Caroline."

"I know." Caroline repeated.

"Can we go shop for dresses now or what?" Jess asked. Caroline's frown turned into a smile immediately at the thought.

"Yes! We both know that I look good in green and blue… I'm thinking white for you, maybe a little black mixed in."

"Are you trying to sabotage me?" Jess asked teasingly.

"Me? Never!"

* * *

Jess stumbled over her own feet and nearly fell, but straightened herself up. The classic dance preformed at the pageant was proving to be more difficult than she'd thought. Caroline and Matt seemed to be doing fine. If she didn't get the hang of it in the next thirty minutes, she would have to ask Caroline to help her out back home.

"Honor your partner. Stay focus, right hand around. Flirt with your eyes. Left hand around." Carol Lockwood was instructing. _I don't know how to flirt with my eyes,_ she thought. Her partner was Tyler, someone who was being forced to do this by his mother and wasn't afraid to complain about it.

"Both hands." Carol kept barking out orders, which wasn't helping Jess's concentration.

"No! No! There's no touching during this part. It's about the simple intimacy of the near touch." Carol yelled at Stefan and Elena, causing everyone to turn and look at them.

"Very nice, Amber!" Carol added.

"Thank you, Mrs. Lockwood!"

"Jess." Tyler's voice brought Jess's attention back to him and she realized she'd missed three moves and was about a foot away from him now. She quickly tried to get back into the pattern of the moves.

"Sorry."

* * *

The Founder's Hall was packed for the Founder's Court, as it was every year. Jess helped Caroline curl her hair as Caroline nervously kept checking the clock.

"Alright, that's good there." She told Jess. Jess set the curling iron aside.

"Now, seriously, go change. I want a fair competition and, no offense, but that won't win you anything." Caroline motioned to Jess's attire, consisting of a worn purple sundress and grey cardigan. Jess looked down at herself and tapped her bare feet against the carpeted floor.

"Right." She grabbed the black and white dress Caroline had so carefully picked out for her and then stooped to grab her heels. She hurried out of the room, narrowly avoided a collision with Tina Fell, and rounded the corner into the next hallway. There were two dressing rooms set up on the second floor and both appeared to be empty judging by the open doors. But what caught her attention was Stefan, leaning against the wall and breathing heavily.

"Stefan?" She didn't get a response. She looked over her shoulder, wondering if she should go get Elena. Then she turned back to Stefan.

"Stefan?" She spoke again, a little louder that time. When she still didn't get a response, she put her dress down on a nearby table, dropped her shoes on the floor and went over to him.

"Stefan, what's the matter?" She put her hand on his shoulder and he whirled around, showing his fangs. She started to scream but he clamped his hand over her mouth to prevent it and darted off with her. The next thing she knew, she was in the parking lot, getting dragged along by the arm. The asphalt was hot and a few stray rocks managed to cut into her bare feet. She had to jog to keep up with his pace.

"Stefan… Stefan, what just happened?" She asked, her voice a few octaves higher than usual. She tried to get out of his grip, but it was no use.

"Where are we going?" She asked, her voice coming out in a whimper.

"I don't know." _He's insane, I've been kidnapped by some kind of crazy person,_ she cried in her head. He stopped, grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her against a nearby car, hard.

"I'm in the ceremony." She cried out. _They'll know I'm gone; Caroline will know and she'll get mom,_ she tried to convince herself. Stefan snatched her bracelet off her and threw it to the ground.

"Not now you're not. You're standing in the parking lot with me." He stared her in the eyes as he said it.

"I know. I just don't want to be." She told him, confused. He looked genuinely surprised at that. Then he shook his head and backed away from her.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm not very good to be around right now, I'm a little bit on the edge. I've been drinking the human stuff and it's really screwing with my head. She knows now. She wasn't supposed to found out, I didn't want her to found out, now everything's ruined."

"Don't want who to know?" Jess asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Elena! I don't want Elena to know!" He screamed. She jumped, pressing her back against the car.

"Okay… okay… you're upset but-." She stopped abruptly when Stefan laughed, catching her off guard.

"I'm not upset! I'm freaking hungry!" He yelled. She couldn't back up any farther and he was steadily advancing closer.

"I don't hurt people. I don't do that. I'm the good brother." He continued.

"Then prove it. Don't hurt me." She whimpered.

"I want to kill you, I want to rip into your skin and I want to feed on your blood." Stefan touched her hair and she flinched away. He stared at her neck.

"Under your skin, pulsating, floating." He stroked her neck and she tried to bolt, running past him. He grabbed her by the arms and threw her back against the car, hard. She cried out in pain and leaned against the car to keep on her feet. He touched her neck again.

"Your carotid artery right here. If you puncture this just right you can control the blood flow. It takes practice but it doesn't have to make a mess, you don't have to waste any."

"Let me go!" She cried out, desperate.

"If I do this, if I give in, there's no going back."

"Then don't!"

"I just want one taste; that's all I need, I just want one taste." His face changed and she screamed as he finally bit into her neck.

* * *

On the stage, Caroline leaned over to whisper to Elena.

"Where's Jess?"

"I don't know." Elena whispered back. Caroline craned her neck, looking around. She couldn't spot Jess anyway. She got her mother's eye and made a gesture at the line of girls. Sheriff Forbes gave her a confused look. Caroline rolled her eyes and motioned again. That time, Sheriff Forbes frowned and looked around, getting the message.

"Before I crown the winner, I'd like to offer a personal thank you to all of these young ladies for their efforts to better our community." Mayor Lockwood was saying. Everyone applauded.

"So, without further a due it is my honor to announce our very own Miss Mystic Falls… Miss Caroline Forbes!" Caroline's eyes widened and she and Elena started laughing.

"Congratulations!" Elena told her.

"I actually won!" She shrieked. They embraced each other and then she stepped forward. The Mayor put the sash around her shoulders and a tiara on her head. She looked around once more, trying to spot her sister. Sheriff Forbes has disappeared from the crowd, but for once Caroline didn't mind her missing the occasion. What she did mind was Jess's disappearing act…

* * *

Jess sobbed as she sat on the asphalt parking lot, holding her hand to her bloody neck. Stefan was pacing in front of her. She's tried three more attempts at running, she'd screamed at the top of her lungs… nothing worked; he was too fast and too strong and she was too far away from the Founder's Hall on the hill.

"I can't do this… I can't do this..." Stefan was saying. She'd learned to stay silent, to just hope that someone, _anyone,_ would come looking for her. The sun was setting; hadn't someone noticed her disappearance by now?

"I'm not supposed to be doing this…" Stefan continued. Jess choked back another sob and dared to speak.

"Please, please, just let me go." Her whimpering seemed to snap Stefan out of it somewhat. He stopped pacing and kneeled down in front of her.

"I'm not supposed to be doing this…" He said again. Then his jaw tightened.

"Listen to me. I need you to run, alright? Run, now, run!" She got up and ran, taking off up the stone walkway that led to the Founder's Hall. In mere seconds, Stefan caught her and dragged her into the tree line.

"You said to run!" She screamed, kicking and struggling.

"I changed my mind." He bit into her neck again and she let out another scream. Bonnie, Damon and Elena ran into view.

"Stefan!" Elena cried. Stefan looked up, releasing an unconscious Jess onto the leaf covered ground. Damon edged his way forward.

"Stefan, come on get control. Its okay, come on. Breath through it, man." Stefan caught Damon and threw him again a tree. Damon got up again.

"Stefan, stop it!" Elena yelled. Suddenly, Stefan yelled and held his head in pain. Bonnie stepped forward, her hand out as she cast a spell. Then she stopped, lowering her hand. Stefan looked around in surprise.

"It's okay. Stefan." Damon tried to grab him but Stefan ran away.

"Jess!" Bonnie and Elena ran over to the younger Forbes girl. She woke up, dazed, and looked at them in confusion for a second. Then she spotted Damon and let out a scream, scrambling backwards. He darted forward and looked her in the eye to compel her.

"You don't remember anything that happened. You think an animal attacked you." He told her slowly. She stared at him for a second and then smacked him across the face as hard as she could.

"What is wrong with you people!?"

"She's wearing Vervain." Elena pointed out.

"No, she's not." Bonnie returned. Elena stared at her wrists; she wasn't wearing her Vervain bracelet. Jess stared at them, still holding her bloody neck with one hand. Then she turned and tried to run. Damon grabbed her to stop her.

"Damon!" Elena protested.

"You want her running to tell everyone about vampires?" He demanded.

"She's already hurt!" Bonnie pointed out.

"Then go get her mother." Damon snapped at her. Bonnie hesitated and then turned and sprinted for the Founder's Hall. Damon held Jess against a tree as she struggled desperately to get away.

"Damon, let her go." Elena told him.

"She can't be compelled, Elena!" Damon shot back.

"Let me talk to her!" Damon hesitated, but released Jess. Elena ran over to her.

"Jess, Jess… I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! Look, I know you're freaking out right now and I am so sorry. But you can't tell anyone about this. Please." Elena begged. Jess was close to hyperventilating.

"Jess?" Elena whispered, reaching out to touch Jess's shoulder. Jess jerked away, collapsing on the ground. She was still losing blood. Elena kneeled down and applied more pressure to her neck as she slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

Bonnie and Elena stood in front of Damon and Sheriff Forbes, huddling close together and shivering with the cold of the night.

"She doesn't remember what happened." Sheriff Forbes announced. Elena held back a sigh of relief; Jess hadn't thrown then under the bus, at least not yet.

"It's a good thing you girls got here when you did; she lost a lot of blood." Damon added.

"You didn't see anything?" Sheriff Forbes asked. There was a pause as Elena and Damon glanced at Bonnie.

'No, we just found her and then called Damon." Elena said when Bonnie didn't speak.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Bonnie asked.

"It looks like it, yeah. Why don't you girls get back to the party? Damon and I can take it from here. Caroline's going with her to the hospital and hopefully Jess will be out by the morning." Sheriff Forbes explained.

"Okay." Elena and Bonnie walked away. Damon turned to the Sheriff.

"They didn't see the bite mark?"

"No, I got here before they got too close. There was too much blood, they couldn't see it clearly." Damon assured her. Sheriff Forbes sighed in relief.

"I'm going to go meet Jess and Caroline at the hospital."

"Alright. If you need anything, call me." Damon told her. She nodded and walked away. Damon hurried after Elena. He caught up with her as she got to Alaric at his car.

"Good, there you are. Jenna wanted me to get the car." Alaric told Elena when he saw her. Then he stopped and looked at her.

"What happened?"

"Stefan attacked Jess. They're taking her to the hospital now and we don't know where Stefan is." Elena explained.

"She's not on Vervain; she wasn't wearing her Vervain bracelet… why can't I compel her?" Damon demanded.

"Wait, she remembers everything?" Alaric asked.

"Why can't I compel her?" Damon repeated. Bonnie walked over to them slowly, hugging herself and looking like she wanted to be anywhere but there.

"Witches can't be compelled." She told them softly.

"But Jess isn't a witch… is she?" Elena asked, confused. Bonnie shrugged slightly.

"Her family isn't a known line of witches, no."

"So, if she is a witch… where could she have gotten the gene?"

* * *

Caroline sat dutifully beside Jess's hospital bed. The blood transfusion had done its job and Jess was awake now, though she looked like she would rather not be. Caroline leaned on her elbows on the edge of the bed.

"So, it was an animal?" Caroline whispered.

"I think so."

"You think so?" Caroline echoed. Jess didn't answer; she just stared at the IV's in her arm. Caroline sighed and looked around the bleary hospital room, searching for something to distract her. The doctor walked into the room, examining his chart. Caroline straightened up.

"Is she going to be okay?"

"Yes, she'll be fine." He assured them.

"You're lucky we still had your blood type in stock. There's been a bit of a problem at the blood bank, we managed to get you some AB. Do you know when your mother's going to be here, she needs to sign some-?"

"Wait, AB?" Jess echoed, raising her head.

"Yes, we typed you when you came into the hospital."

"That's not right." Jess protested.

"Jess, they know what they're doing." Caroline whispered to her.

"But I can't be AB." She insisted.

"Trust me, they typed you when you came in and we don't make mistakes like that. We can show you the results if you really want to see them, but we know we are correct." He explained.

"Fine." She mumbled.

"Our mom should be here in a few minutes." Caroline added. He nodded and walked out of the room again. Caroline turned to Jess.

"Jess, what's wrong with you being type AB? One type of blood is the same as the next."

"No, it isn't. Mom and dad are both type A."

"So?"

"Genetically, I can only be type A." Jess explained. Caroline frowned.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Caroline was already pulling out her phone and she quickly started a search.

"Okay, I found a page about blood types and…" Caroline scanned the page quickly and her eyes widened. She put the phone down and stared at Jess.

"But that blood is AB and your body isn't rejecting it…. That means that the hospital didn't make a mistake." She started.

"Which means that I can't, genetically, be mom and dad's daughter."

"Wait, are you saying that you're adopted and they just didn't tell you?" Caroline whispered. Jess swallowed hard and nodded.

"I'm adopted."

* * *

 **A/N I realize that putting this part in so soon after Elena and Malia find out they're adopted looks a little cheesy, but this is a story-line that I've been eager to pursue and this episode was the best time to start it in my mind.**

 **I know exactly where I'm going with her adoption story-line, though it may not be showcased for a little while. I know exactly who her biological family is and I can't wait to introduce them to the story, but that'll have to wait for a little while.**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter. Thank you for reading thus far and, as always, I would love to get reviews. Thank you!**


	28. Family Ties

**A/N This is the full episode of 'Blood Brothers'.**

* * *

"It's so hard to see him locked up like this." Elena murmured as she and Ava looked through the bars at Stefan. The lack of blood was making him hallucinate.

"You're the one who locked him up." Damon reminded her.

"You helped." Elena shot back.

"I couldn't have him running around chewing on people while the town was looking for vampires, now, could I?"

"It had nothing to do with you actually caring about him?" Elena asked.

"Your thing, not mine." Elena sighed and walked towards the stairs, pausing and turning back on the first step.

"I have school. Ava?"

"Tomorrow." She returned distractedly. Elena hesitated; 'tomorrow' had been her excuse for days. No doubt she was going to fall behind on school. Although, there was also no doubt that Damon would compel anyone if it meant she was out of high school and going to a college far, far away sooner. So she turned and walked upstairs and out the front door. Ava leaned against the heavy door to the cell. Damon's phone rang, shattering the silence, and she jumped. Damon pulled it out of his pocket.

"Hello?" There was a pause.

"Before I hang up, how did you get this number?" He walked out of the basement and Ava watched him go. Then she walked into the next room, opened the mini fridge next to the large chest freezer and stooped down to examine the contents. She grabbed a water bottle filled with blood, shut the mini-fridge's door and went back to the cell door. She glanced up the steps. Damon hadn't come back and, judging by his tone of voice, he'd be upstairs for a while. She opened the cell door and it creaked. She grimaced and slipped through.

"I brought you something to eat, Stefan. Don't worry, it's not human. I think its rabbit, maybe… Damon didn't label them and I don't want to ask. I'll let you figure it out." Ava put the bottle down next to him, but he didn't move to take it.

"I'm not hungry." He grumbled. She kneeled down, sitting back against her heels, and looked at him.

"Yes, you are. I can tell. You have to eat… _drink_ something." She protested.

"I'm not hungry." He repeated. She chewed on her lip, wondering what to do. Before she could say anything else, Damon was pulling her up by her arm. She immediately jerked away, remembering what happened last time he'd gotten his hand around her wrist. He let her go, but nudged her out the door.

"I was just giving him something to drink."

"Yeah, well, consider that cell a no-human zone." Damon told her sternly. He turned back to Stefan, standing in the door of the cell.

"The human blood should be gone by now. You want to explain why you're still in here? Feeling sorry for yourself, Stefan?" He asked. Stefan didn't answer. Damon rolled his eyes.

"Come on. Drink up." He encouraged. Stefan didn't respond.

"Fine. Starve. What do I care?" Damon slammed the cell-door shut again and turned to Ava.

"Stay out of the cell. You're a walking, breathing, _bleeding_ temptation for him." Damon reminded her.

"I was just trying to help!"

"Yeah, I know. Don't do that again." Damon ground out through clenched teeth, walking back up the stairs.

* * *

Caroline shut the door behind her and ran over to Jess's bed. Jess had a shoebox of photos in front of her, sorting through them quickly. Caroline dumped a scrapbook onto the bed and sat down beside her.

"Anything?" Caroline asked.

"Nothing. That's the problem. Do you know how many of _these_ I've come across?" Jess held up a picture of Liz and a newborn Caroline in the hospital. Caroline grabbed it and flipped it over to see the writing on the back, which confirmed that it was indeed her and not Jess. Caroline grimaced and put the photo back in the box.

"How could we not notice this before?" She demanded as she started flipping through the photo album. There were no pictures of Jess before she was a year old. Caroline shut the photo album again and blew a loose strand of blonde hair out of her face. Jess rubbed the bandage on her neck with a grimace, something that Caroline noticed.

"Does that still hurt? Have you taken the pain medication today?" She was immediately on older-sister-mode.

"I'm fine." Jess assured her, which wasn't really an answer. _I just happen to know about vampires,_ she thought to herself. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense that Damon was a vampire. All the signs had been there, she just hadn't put them together. Not unlike her own adoption. She flopped back against her pillows with a groan. Caroline followed suit.

"Mom and dad never told us… How could they not tell us?" She demanded.

"Maybe they were waiting." Jess suggested, shrugging.

"For what?"

"Who knows?"

"I, for one, intend on demanding an answer from mom the second she gets home from work tonight."

"No, don't!" Jess sat up and looked at her. Caroline frowned in confusion and sat up as well.

"I'll make sure you're there, obviously. Do you want to do the demanding? I just seem better at making demands than you, you know?"

"I don't want her to know we know, not yet."

"What are we waiting for?"

"I don't know." Jess admitted, lying back down. Caroline lied back as well and turned onto her side to look at her.

"You _do_ know." Caroline accused.

"What if I don't like what I hear? I mean, I'm not related to you which begs the question of _who I am_ related to. I… I may not like what I hear and I want to wait until I can't stand it anymore and then, maybe the answer won't seem so bad…" Jess stammered. Caroline narrowed her eyes.

"You're not related to me anymore?"

"That's what adoption means, remember?"

"Does that mean, in your mind, we're not sisters?"

"Not biologically." Jess answered. Caroline gasped and sat up.

"Are you claiming not to be a Forbes?"

"Well, I'm not..." Jess answered, confused.

"Oh my gosh! You have crossed a line!" Caroline cried. She grabbed a pillow and smacked Jess with it.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Repeat after me: you are my sister." Caroline told her sternly. Jess cracked up laughing.

"You are my sister."

"I am a Forbes."

"I am a Forbes."

"Good."

"Excellent." Jess was still laughing and now Caroline joined in. Laughing felt good, considering what the two now knew.

* * *

Malia walked down the stairs of the Gilbert house into the kitchen to start another pot of coffee, but stopped and turned on her heel when she saw John in the kitchen.

"Malia, hey." He greeted her. She considered acting like she hadn't heard him, but then she rolled her eyes and turned back around.

"Uncle John. Hi."

"I thought we could talk. We haven't had a chance to catch up."

"I was actually just… Ah, whatever. What did you want to talk about?" She gave up with her excuses, flopping down onto a barstool.

"Well... I know."

"You know what?" Malia raised an eyebrow.

"It's really silly to keep pretending. What do you think your mom and dad would say? If they knew you were a vampire?" Malia stood up from the barstool, staring at John in shock and anger.

"Which set of parents?" She shot back. John looked slightly taken aback.

"Yeah, Elena, Jeremy and I know." She advanced on him, but he didn't back up like she'd thought he would. Instead, he advanced on her. She backed up, although she hated feeling afraid of her own uncle, the uncle that she could easily take with her vampire abilities.

"And I know your secret. Do you know how many vampire hunters there are in town?" He demanded. _Well, I could name one,_ she thought. And, at that moment, she would have much preferred Alaric's company. At least he didn't interrogate her and freak her out in her own house…

"I'm actually impressed… you haven't killed anyone in this house yet. But all the bodies that have been showing up? Vicki Donovan, for instance? What about Jess Forbes?"

"I didn't hurt Jess!"

"But you're not denying Vicki Donovan…" John backed away from her, suspicious. Malia swallowed hard. She remembered everything about that night in detail. She remembered the rough feeling of the wood in her hand; she remembered the force she'd used to shove into Vicki's chest. She backed away from John as well, putting as much distance between the two of them as possible.

"What are you going to do?" Malia asked. She was weighing her options. She could fight him and hopefully scare him into not telling anyone, but that would only prove his theory of her having turned into a heartless monster. She could beg and plead with him, but she would rather die on her feet than live on her knees. And that brought her to her last option: run like heck and hope he never came looking for her. John folded his arms across his chest as he stared at her.

"I'm not going to tell anyone, not yet. If a vampire harms anyone in this town, you will the first that the council knows about it. And know this, something is coming. And no vampire will be able to escape it." He threatened. Malia was backed against the counter, he was a mere feet from her, and she felt smaller than she had in a long time. Luckily for her, Jenna walked into the room.

"What is going on?" John backed away and Malia made her escape, rushing over to Jenna instead. Jenna led her from the room.

"What just happened?"

"He was saying how he knew that I knew we were adopted and it got intense." Malia lied. Jenna cast a glance back into the kitchen.

"I swear, if he causes problems with this family then I will kick him out of Mystic Falls myself." She growled. Malia smiled slightly; seeing a young college student turn into a protective mother-figure was as rewarding for her as it was for Jenna. Jenna sighed and reached out to squeeze Malia's arm.

"I'll talk to him about personal space. You have my permission to avoid him at all times."

"I'll take you up that. Right now, I was going to head over to the Boarding House." Malia motioned to the door for emphasis and Jenna nodded in agreement.

"Please, go, avoid."

* * *

Damon opened the front door of the Boarding House and stopped when he saw Malia on the other side, preparing to knock. She let her hand drop to her side again, looking more dejected than he had seen her in a long time. Naturally, he leaned against the doorframe and smirked at her, enjoying it as much as he could with the knowledge that Stefan was locked up and starving below his feet.

"Did Gilbert Barbie have a bad day?" He asked, pretending to pout with her. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

"My uncle just threatened to kill _me_ if the tomb vampires so much as hurt another human. Yeah, that qualifies as a bad day for me!" She growled. Damon's smirk faltered a tiny bit and he moved out of her way. She hesitated, looking at him, but the walked into the front room. In the living room, Elena and Ava looked up from the couch.

"Hey!" Ava greeted Malia half-heartedly.

"I didn't know you were coming over." Elena added.

"Neither did I."

"Well, you girls have fun. I have an errand to run. Barbie, fair warning, Stefan's being dramatic today." With that said Damon walked out and shut the door behind him. Ava looked at Malia again.

"Your room is exactly how you left it."

"Is that permission for me to live here?"

"You always have permission to live here."

"Well, I also have permission from Jenna to avoid John, so that works out lovely."

* * *

When Damon returned that night, all three girls he'd left behind were still there. He groaned as he entered the living room. Elena glanced up from her diary, where she was sitting on the couch next to Malia. Malia was looking as miserable as she did when she'd first walked in, curled up beside Elena. Ava was stretched out on the other couch, her small body somehow taking up all the room.

"Ugh. You're still here?" Damon asked as he walked in.

"One of us lives here, one of us hides here from the family she has to lie to and one of us has a suffering boyfriend here… were you expecting anything else?" Elena asked.

"No." He sighed. He picked up Ava's legs, sat down on the couch and dumped her legs onto his lap. Elena raised an eyebrow but said nothing on the matter.

"So, how was the 'errand'?" Elena added.

"Futile. Although, I think I witnessed the teacher having an existential crisis. Has Stefan eaten yet?"

"I thought you didn't care." Ava asked, suspicious.

"Chalk it up to morbid curiosity."

"I think he's getting there. But he's got a lot of guilt that he has to deal with. And it doesn't help that you've spent the last one hundred forty-five years punishing him for Katherine getting caught." Elena told him.

"This is my fault now?"

"No, it's no one's fault, Damon. I'm just... saying you're not exactly innocent. You've made it your life's mission to make him miserable." Damon shoved Ava's legs off his lap and stood up.

"Let me ask you a question. In all this important soul-searching and cleansing of the demons of Stefan's past, did you ever manage to get the rest of the story?"

"He said there was more." Elena admitted.

"Yeah. That's an understatement." Elena put down her diary and got up. Even Malia looked slightly curious.

"Damon... Damon. Tell me."

"He killed our father, drank his blood and became a vampire… Then he came back with a human girl and forced me to feed because he was so in love with the power being a vampire gave him. He told me that I could turn off my emotions so that I didn't care about Katherine anymore. He's the one that turned me into the person I am today… From the moment Stefan had his first taste of human blood, he was a different person. I suppose I should thank him. It's been a heck of a ride…" Damon told her.

"Oh, my gosh… He said he wanted to die. That's why he won't feed. Now I understand why, but..."

"His choice. If he's stupid enough to make it, so be it." Damon shrugged the whole matter off; he'd shown enough emotion for one day.

"Don't do that. Okay? Don't pretend like you don't care."

"Where are you going?" He demanded as she raced down to the cellar. She returned a minute later with Stefan's daylight ring.

"He's gone." Damon thought for a second.

"Go to the quarry. If anyone can talk him out of this, it's you. And he'll be there." He told her.

"Thank you." With that, she ran out of the house.

* * *

Ava collapsed on next to Malia on her bed. Malia could hear Elena, Stefan and Damon talking. Elena had been able to talk Stefan out of suicide and now everything seemed to be going good again. For them, anyway. Ava looked over at her.

"You okay?"

"I'm a vampire, with an uncle that hunts vampires, with a biological mother that is a vampire with a teacher that used to be married to my biological mother that hunts vampires… I don't know what 'okay' is anymore and I'm tired of being tough and acting like nothing hurts me."

"You're a lot more like Damon than you realize."

"Don't go there." Malia warned.

"I'm just saying… you guys both act like you don't care but you do. You're a better version of Damon." Ava tried to quickly explain her thoughts.

"That doesn't make it better."

"Sorry."

"Can we just lie here in silence for a while?"

"Yeah, I think I can do that. No promises, though."

* * *

Jess shoved aside the box of photos, letting it tumble to the floor as she curled up on her bed. She'd found the earliest picture they had of her, which, according to the back, was taken when she was a year old. It was taken of her in the car, which meant she must have been going home from where-ever they'd gotten her from. _How could they not tell me?_ She asked herself. She rolled over onto her back, staring at the ceiling. She had pictures and posters taped to the ceiling above her and usually she loved looking at them. But this time, she rolled over onto her side again. _And why do I have to be so smart?_ She added in her head. If she hadn't had some stupid information in her head about bloody types, she never would've come to the same conclusion in the first place. She got off her bed and walked over to her closet. With a bit of effort, she hauled a box down from the top rack of her closet. She sorted through the old stuffed animals until she found what she was looking for. A worn-out old bear with a tattered yellow ribbon tied around its neck. She went back to her bed and grabbed the picture. The same bear was sitting on her lap in her car seat.

"Jess? Can I come in?" Caroline called from outside the door.

"Sure, come on in!" She called back. Caroline slipped through the door, shutting it again behind her.

"Find anything new?"

"I think this is from my real parents." Jess held up the bear and the picture. Caroline smiled and gently took the bear from her.

"Mr. Bear. I remember him."

"I don't know why I called him that." Jess said, shaking her head.

"Because you were, like, one there. It might have been something your parents called it and you remembered it."

"Or a sibling." Jess mused.

"Oh, no, don't go thinking about your perfect little family. Something happened that sent you here and that's all I need to know about them." Caroline handed the bear back, giving her sister a stern look. In the living room, they heard the front door shut.

"Girls, I'm home!" Sheriff Forbes called. Jess looked up at Caroline.

"Quick, help me put all this stuff away!"


	29. Twisted Family Tree

**A/N This is the full episode of 'Isobel' and this is also the longest chapter I've ever written for this fanfiction. Enjoy!**

* * *

Stefan, Elena and Malia stood in the cafeteria as Alaric handed out papers to the students. The month of Founder's Day festivities was in full swing and that meant that everyone got involved, whether you wanted to or not.

"So these are the specs for the History department. For the founder's day float we'll be recreating the battle of Willow Creek. Tyler has been nominated at the head of the production design."

"By whom?" Tyler demanded.

"By me. I've seen your sketches and they're good."

"I'm not really into the…"

"Well, you just pick your team, be creative and…" He spotted Malia and Elena and trailed off. Then he turned back to Tyler.

"Don't screw up." He hurried towards the two sisters.

"Hey, Mr. Saltzman." Elena greeted him.

"Come with me. We need to talk."

* * *

Bonnie and Jess leaned over Caroline as she sat at one of the cafeteria tables with her laptop. Caroline typed in something quickly, her eyes never leaving the screen.

"Alright, show me." Bonnie was in all business mode.

"Let's reference last years Miss Mystic float." She pulled up a picture and showed it to the two other girls.

"This is what they did last year and this is exactly what we don't want to do."

"Ew. Okay! So, what are we doing?" Bonnie asked.

"Southern classic elegance."

"Gone with the Wind?" Jess asked knowingly.

"How'd you know?"

"You channel Scarlett, daily."

"So true!" The trio laughed and Caroline looked around, her laugh quickly turning into a frown.

"Where's Elena? She's supposed to be helping."

"I don't know." Bonnie shrugged.

"Okay, what's the deal?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. You and Elena are fighting. Spill!" Caroline demanded.

"It's nothing."

"It's not nothing! You know this whole float is supposed to be about friends creating something together and everyone is fighting. Matt and Tyler hate each other, you and Elena are on the outs and I don't like it! And I can't fix it if I don't know what's wrong." Caroline protested.

"I can't talk about it, Caroline, I'm sorry." Bonnie sat down on the other side of the table without another world. Caroline frowned. Jess chewed on her lip and then sat down next to Caroline.

"So southern classic elegance? What were you thinking?" She tried to get them back on track and it worked. Caroline called Bonnie back over and they started discussing the details of the float.

* * *

Alaric shut the classroom door behind them and sat down on his desk. Stefan, Malia and Elena settled themselves on top of desks opposite of him, waiting for him to speak. He started slowly:

"I already called Damon-."

"What?" Malia interrupted. He nodded slowly.

"What's happening? Is the planet about to fall out of orbit or something?" She asked. Damon walked into the classroom, shutting the door behind him again.

"Damon… thanks for coming."

"Sorry I'm late. My dog ate my uh… never mind." Damon gave up and just shook his head.

"I saw Isobel last night." Alaric told them. Malia and Elena exchanged looks.

"Isobel is here? In town?" Damon demanded. Alaric nodded, staring at the floor. Elena seemed pale under her tanned skin tone and Malia's jaw was clenched so tightly that it must've hurt. Damon looked around at all of them before turning back to Alaric, his surprise turning to anger quickly.

"Did you ask her about Uncle John? Are they working together?"

"No."

"No they're not?"

"No, I didn't ask." Alaric corrected him.

"What about the invention?"

"Didn't ask."

"Did she know about the tomb vampires?"

"I don't know."

"Did words completely escape you?"

"No, I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions." Alaric snapped.

"What did she want?"

"She wanted to see Elena and Malia. She wanted me to arrange a meeting." He explained. Elena's head snapped up and Malia's jaw unclenched just enough for her to speak.

"Did you tell her where she could shove that idea?"

"We don't know what she wants…" Alaric reminded her, trailing off at her look.

"You don't have to see her if you don't want to." Damon told Elena. Malia narrowed her eyes at him and looked at Stefan, who was just as confused as she was at this sudden sensitivity.

"She threatened to go on a killing spree if you two didn't meet her." Alaric added.

"Oh! I take it that's not okay with you guys?" Damon asked.

"I want to do it. I want to meet her. If I don't, I know I'll regret it." Elena put in. She looked at Malia, who rolled her eyes.

"This is a horrid idea."

"But you're coming too?"

"Of course."

* * *

Elena and Malia sat at a table at the Mystic Grill. Stefan was standing at the pool table, watching them. Elena fidgeted nervously before she whispered to him aloud:

"Can you hear me? Thanks for coming, I'm nervous." She glanced at Stefan and saw that he was smiling at her.

"I'm happy that you're here. I love you." Stefan mouthed 'I love you' back at her. Malia seemed more uncomfortable than ever. A dark haired woman arrived and sat down across from the two girls.

"Hello, Elena. You look just like her, that's eerie."

"You've met Katherine?"

"She found me after I turned. Genetic curiosity, I suppose. She would be fascinated by you." She looked over at Malia.

"You look a lot like your father."

"Care to give me a name?" Malia asked, leaning forward. Isobel just smiled and said nothing. Elena looked at Isobel's necklace.

"Is that how you can walk in the day?"

"Katherine helped me obtain it."

"Who's our father?" Malia demanded, struggling to keep her voice down.

"Not important. He was a teenage waste of space."

" _His name_."

"You ask a lot of questions." Isobel accused.

"Why did you compel that man to kill himself? Right after he told me to stop looking for you." Elena asked.

"Dramatic impact. I wish it would have been more effective."

"Human life means that little to you?" Elena demanded.

"Means nothing to me. It's just part of being what I am."

"No it's not. I know other vampires… that's not true." Elena said.

"Right, like you." Isobel looked at Malia. Malia curled her fingers underneath her hand to hide her daylight ring, as if it wasn't too late for that. Isobel looked over at Elena.

"Your new boyfriend over there by the pool table? Stefan Salvatore. Why Stefan? Why didn't you go for Damon? Or are you enjoying them both like Katherine did?" Elena looked shocked.

"Why did you want to meet us? Can't be to just catch up." Malia growled, fighting to keep her fangs from showing.

"Because I'm curious about you. But the real reason is: I want what your uncle wants. Jonathan Gilbert's invention."

"How do you know our uncle?" Elena asked, exchanging looks with Malia.

"I used to spend a lot of time here when I was younger. John had a crush on me for years. He was the first one that told me about vampires."

"So what made you want to be one?" Elena asked.

"It's a very long list of reasons, Elena. All of which I'm sure you've thought about."

"No."

"That was your first lie. It's inevitable, you're going to get old and Stefan won't. Forever doesn't last very long when you're human. Malia, you know the power you get when you become a vampire. Have compelled anyone yet? Have you felt that power? You will and you won't be able to get enough of it." Isobel's voice lowered to a manipulative, alluring whisper. Malia nudged Elena's arm, perhaps with more force than necessary. Elena got the message.

"I'm sorry but I don't have what you're looking for." She got up and Malia went to slide out of the booth behind her, but Isobel caught her arm and forced her to sit back down.

"Sit down." She growled.

"And tell your boyfriend to walk away." She added. Malia and Elena glanced at Stefan, who stopped in his tracks.

"I want the invention." Isobel demanded.

"I don't have it." Elena told her.

"I know that but Damon does and you're going get it for me."

"He's not going to give it to me."

"Then the blood will be on your hands." Isobel stood up.

"It was nice meeting you, Elena, Malia." She left the Grill. Elena started crying. Malia nudged her again and she slowly slid out of the booth. Malia started to go after Isobel, but Elena caught her arm and stopped her.

* * *

Malia weaved her way through the crowd. Elena was right behind her, craning her neck and looking for Stefan. Bonnie was sure that the Gilbert invention was a weapon, a weapon against vampires. Which meant that finding Stefan and warning him about it had to be their first priority… Jeremy walked over to them.

"Elena, Malia!"

"Hey, have you seen Stefan? I need to find him." Elena told him.

"No, not lately. Listen, do you have a second?"

"What's up?" Malia asked.

"Well, it's Anna. I've left her all this messages and she hasn't gotten back to me, not even a text."

"Anna? I didn't know that you guys were still friends." Malia tried to hide her anger. _If I have to get into another fight with that girl…_

"We're more than friends. Look, something could be seriously wrong and if you know anything you've got to tell me."

"We haven't talked to her, Jer." Elena put in.

"Are you lying to me right now?" That caught her off guard.

"Why do you say that?"

"Cause that's what you do. Lying. You lie about everything. I know what Anna is, I know what _you are_ and I know that you know." Jeremy told Malia in a hushed tone. Malia's eyes widened.

"So tell me, do you have any idea where she is?" He demanded.

"No, but Jer… Jeremy wait!" Elena called after him as he retreated into the crowd. She turned around and gasped, grabbing at Malia's arm. Malia tore her eyes away from Jeremy and turned around. She saw Isobel and immediately took a step forward. Isobel smirked.

"I wouldn't try anything here."

"Isobel. What are you doing here?" Elena demanded.

"I'm your mother, Elena. I want to be more involved in your life."

"We don't want you in our lives!" Malia growled.

"I understand that. You already have a lot of people that you care about but I've been studying. Let's see if I got this right."

"There is the witchy best friend, Bonnie. Gonna stay away from that one." She pointed to Bonnie, who stood near Caroline to discuss the float.

"There's the Salvatore's niece, perfect for leverage, if you ask me." She pointed at Ava, who was helping glue fake flowers to the edge of the float.

"Oh… sad little brother Jeremy." Isobel stuck out a lip, pretending to pout, and then pointed out Jess.

"There's the little red-head with a heart of gold… So loyal, so constant, so easy to kill…" She pointed to Caroline.

"And there's Caroline… obnoxious Caroline. I got all of my info from her by the way. She had no idea who I was and she wouldn't stop yapping. Oh…" She looked at Matt.

"And there's Matt, friend, ex, yappy's future ex. Lots of connection there." Isobel smirked.

"Matt is not involved in this." Elena protested.

"He's involved with you, isn't he?" She asked.

"You need to leave." Malia growled at her, letting her fangs extend threatening.

"Oh, put those away, we're in a crowd!" Isobel rolled her eyes and scolded her like the mother she never would be. But Malia let her fangs retract.

"I have some friends here too. Look, you see that man over here, standing next to Matt by the Float? His name is Frank, he's very handsome and he's also quite handy and he'd noticed that the axles are a little rusty which is very dangerous. So, all you have to do is apply a little bit of pressure and…"

"No!" Frank jumped onto the trailer above Matt and Matt's arm was crushed. Malia and Elena tried to rush forward but Isobel caught both their arms.

"Get this trailer! Come on, guys, help me!" Matt pleaded. Tyler rushed to help with his friends, but they couldn't move the trailer. Stefan arrived to help and Matt was freed. Caroline rushed over to Matt, with Ava and Jess right behind her.

"Ava, call an ambulance." Stefan ordered. The youngest Salvatore was already on the phone.

"Why are you doing this?" Elena whimpered.

"I'm showing you how easy it is to hurt the people that you care about."

"And you're doing this just because of Jonathan Gilbert's invention?" Malia growled.

"Hand it over and all will be stopped."

"I told you, Damon is not going to give it to me."

"I think that you underestimate how much Damon cares about you. And you're underestimating who can I kill right under your noses."

"He'll kill you before he gives it up."

"Is that before or after I kill your brother, Jeremy?" Elena and Malia whirled around, trying to spot Jeremy in the crowd.

"Jeremy? Jeremy?!" Malia called, looking around. He had disappeared. When she turned around again, Isobel was gone too.

* * *

Back with the crowd that had gathered around Matt, Ava pulled her phone away from her ear.

"The ambulance is saying in fifteen to twenty minutes."

"I have my car. I can take him to the hospital." Tyler put in.

"Caroline can take me." Matt ground out.

"I didn't drive!" Caroline protested.

"I'll wait. It's fine." Matt told her.

"You will not wait, okay?! You need to see a doctor, Tyler is driving. End of story." Caroline yelled at him.

"Fine!"

"Go!" She ordered Tyler.

"I'll bring my car around." Tyler sprinted off. As Ava put her phone back in her pocket, she looked around for Stefan, but was unable to spot him. Caroline was helping Matt to his feet as Tyler's truck screeched to a halt on the curb. As Jess and Caroline got Matt in the car, Ava took off, weaving her way through the crowd and trying to spot one of her friends. The man that had jumped on the trailer… she knew that wasn't an accident. She also knew that if Matt was a target, everyone that knew the Gilbert's or the Salvatore's were as well.

"Stefan?" She did a complete three-sixty and when she turned back around, a man was standing right behind her. Before she could yell, he grabbed her and darted off.

* * *

Ava landed on the hardwood floor with a groan of pain. She rolled over onto her back, propped herself up on her elbows and looked around. John Gilbert was lying on the floor nearby, beaten and bloody. She got onto her hands and knees and crawled over to him.

"What's going on? What is Isobel doing?" She demanded. Jeremy came out of the nearby bathroom with a hand towel. He and Ava looked at each other in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" They asked each other at the same time. Jeremy kneeled down and handed John the towel.

"Here you go."

"Thank you."

"We're leverage." Ava whispered, sitting back on her heels. Jeremy sat down as well and looked at her.

"For what? What is she after?"

"Your ancestor invented a weapon, a device that's extremely harmful to vampires and we've been trying to get it." John explained.

"Why?"

"Because there's a group of vampires from a long time ago that wants revenge on this town."

"But why would a vampire help you kill other vampires?"

"She has her own reasons for wanting them dead. Look, Jeremy, no one ever thought vampires would return to this town. Not in modern times, but they have and we have to destroy them." John told him.

"There are some good ones out there!" Jeremy protested.

"I've met good ones." Ava added.

"There are no such things."

"I don't believe that." Jeremy told him firmly. Ava glanced at him through the strands of black hair that had fallen into her eyes.

"Well, your dad did. And as his son that should mean something to you."

"How did my father know about all this?"

"Who do you think told me about the family history?"

* * *

Bonnie had Emily's spell book open on the table, with the Gilbert device lying next to it. Everyone kept quiet as she started chanting. After a moment, she stopped, opened her eyes and picked up the device.

"Done."

"Great, now what?" Damon asked.

"Now we give it to Isobel."

"I'm coming with you." Malia said quickly.

"We all are." Stefan agreed. Elena held the device in both hands.

"Let's just get it to her before she hurts Jeremy or Ava…"

* * *

Ava sat against the wall, hugging her knees to her chest. John was sitting up, still cleaning blood away from his face. Jeremy crawled over and sat against the wall beside her.

"So you know about vampires? I would've told you but it wasn't my secret to tell and you know how Malia and Elena get when you know stuff they don't want you to know…" Ava told him quietly.

"Yeah, I get it."

"Do you hate Malia?"

"No… I'm going to be mad at her for the rest of my natural life, but I don't hate her." He explained. Ava smiled.

"It must be nice, having siblings." She said wistfully.

"What, like Stefan is like your brother?"

"Well, if Stefan's my brother, that makes Damon my brother too and I don't think I'm ready for that." One of Isobel's henchmen walked into the room and Jeremy and Ava scrambled to their feet.

"You're free to go." He walked out of the room again. Ava and Jeremy exchanged surprised looks. Jeremy helped John to his feet and the trio ran out of the room. Ava glanced around the front hallway and, finding it empty, opened the front door and they hurried out.

"I don't even know where we are." Ava complained as they got to the side walk.

"I do. This way." John pointed down one side of the sidewalk. They started that way, with Jeremy supporting John.

"Why would Isobel just let us go?" Jeremy wondered.

"They had both of us… Elena must've given her what she wanted. The Gilbert device. Which she must've gotten from Damon because he had it before. And now Isobel's going to use it against a bunch of vampires, not that I'm complaining, but she could use it against Stefan and Malia… And now I'm freaked out again."

"Calm down, I'm sure they're smarter than that." Jeremy told her.

"I hope so…"

* * *

Elena turned the Gilbert device over in her hands, waiting. Malia paced beside her. The park was dark and creepy at night. Waiting for a vampire made it even creepier. Malia glanced at Elena's nervous fidgeting.

"Put that back in your pocket." She ordered. Elena quickly slipped it into her jacket.

"Do you think she would really hurt Jeremy and Ava?"

"If she doesn't get what she wants, of course." Malia returned. Elena looked at her, worried.

"If she doesn't hold up her end of the bargain, then it'll be vampire against vampire and we'll see who's the biggest, baddest girl on the block… You can be my cheerleader, it'll be cool."

"Don't sound so excited."

"I'm just saying that if I was her, I would take Jeremy and Ava and use them as leverage too. It was a smart move."

"Are you defending her?"

"Oh no, if she so much as looks at me wrong tonight I'm going to show her the pointy end of a stake. I'm just saying, she's smart and I would do exactly the same thing in her position."

"That's not a comforting thought."

"You are so lucky that I'm on your side."

"I know." Elena laughed nervously.

"Where is the device?" The twins whirled around to face Isobel, who had come up silently behind them. Elena held her head high while Malia had a thoughtful look on her face, like she was counting the ways she could hurt Isobel.

"Where is my brother?" Elena asked.

"This isn't a negotiation. Where is the invention?"

"We asked you first. Where's Jeremy?" Malia demanded.

"Do you really think that I came alone?" Two vampires walked up behind the twins; Malia glanced over her shoulder at them and growled threateningly.

"Did you really think that we came alone?" Elena shot back. Damon and Stefan walked up behind Isobel. She cast a glance at them and turned back to Elena with a roll of her eyes.

"For gosh sakes, call home."

"What?"

"Call home and ask to speak to your brother Jeremy." Elena took out her phone and called home. Malia listened carefully as someone picked up on the other end.

" _Hello_?" Malia sighed in relief at the sound of Jeremy's voice.

"Jeremy, are you okay?" Elena demanded worriedly.

" _Yeah, yeah I'm fine, Uncle John hit his head. It was an accident._ "

" _We're all laughing._ " Jenna's voice came.

" _But yeah I'm okay._ " Jeremy added.

"Have you talked to Ava recently?" Malia asked, leaning closer to the phone.

" _Yeah, she's here right now. We're both fine._ "

"I'll be home soon, alright?" Elena asked.

" _Yeah._ " He hung up and Elena pulled the phone away from her ear.

"You were never gonna hurt him." Elena said, looking back at Isobel.

"No, I was going to kill him. Don't look for any redeeming qualities in me. I don't have any."

"But you took a risk with Damon. How did you know that he was gonna give it to me?" Elena asked.

"Because he's in love with you." Elena handed over the device to Isobel.

"Thank you." Elena told her.

"For what?" Isobel was genuinely confused.

"For being such a monumental disappointment. It keeps the memory of my real mother perfectly intact." Elena told her. Malia smirked; few things made her happier than seeing Elena mouthing off to someone. Isobel's mouth twitched, like a million things were going through her head that she wanted to say. After a second, she did speak:

"Goodbye, Elena. As long as you have a Salvatore on each arm, you're doomed. Katherine was smart. She got out. But we all know that you're not Katherine." Isobel and her two vampires darted off.

* * *

Malia and Elena walked into Jeremy's room. He was sitting at his desk, his feet propped up on the bed. Ava was asleep in the chair beside him. He tossed down his phone as he saw them.

"Jeremy, we have to talk about all this." Elena told him softly.

"No, we really don't."

"I don't know what Anna told you but there are things that you need to know." Malia protested.

"Yeah? Because I'm pretty sure that Elena's journal covered it."

"You read my journal?" Elena gasped.

"And save me the speech about invasion of privacy because I read the section about Damon erasing my memory, about what happened to Vicki."

"Jeremy, please, you don't understand. The night that Vicki died, it was like mom and dad died all over again. It was all over your face and it hurt so much to see you like that. I just wanted to take away your pain. I'm so sorry." Elena stammered. Malia just closed her eyes; so much for Gilbert family love… Now he knew all about how she killed the first girl he'd ever loved.

"Just get out. Please." Elena started to protest but Malia grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room. He walked over and shut the door behind them. Ava jerked awake at the sudden slam of the door.

"Ugh… What did I miss?"

"Elena and Malia pretending what they did was for my own good."

"No comment." She moaned.

"Thank you." He sat back down on his chair.

"How can you live with two vampires that have the ability to mess with your head like that?" He demanded.

"Stefan wouldn't hurt me."

"And Damon?"

"Stefan would kill him if he messed with me."

"You sure about that?"

"Well, he's practically my brother." She reminded him, smiling slightly. He nodded once and leaned back in his chair. She got up and grabbed her bag from the floor.

"I'm going home. Good night."

"Night." He mumbled, staring at his phone. She opened his door and shut it again on her way out.


	30. Founder's Day

**A/N This is the final episode of season one (finally!). I hope you guys enjoy it!**

* * *

Everyone was preparing for the Founder's Day parade. Carol Lockwood was supervising. Or, more accurately, barking orders at everyone that she could see.

"No, no, no, no, no! It's all wrong! The marching band should be in front of the Historic Society. Matt, get up on the float. Boys, I asked you to put chairs on the Founder's Float. Ladies! Time to get on the float." Malia worked her way through the crowd, glad that she had held her ground when her mother had insisted she try out for Miss Mystic Falls. Elena was trying to keep up with her, but it was hard, considering the dress she wearing for the parade. It made her look like Katherine, which Malia had the horrible feeling was her intent. Stefan walked over to them. Elena smiled and curtsied. Malia just raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you have that 'I have bad news' look on your face?" She demanded.

"I have to talk you." He led them over to a quiet place away from the crowds. Finally, he stopped and turned around to face them. Elena's smile had faded and Malia was folding her arms across her chest.

"Spill." She ordered.

"I think that John Gilbert is your biological father." Malia paled and Elena's eyes widened.

"John?! Is that even possible?" She demanded, struggling to keep her voice down.

"There is no proof, but he dated Isobel when she was a teenager and he was the one who brought her to your dad's office for the delivery." He explained.

"My whole life I've never liked this man. I…" Elena trailed off.

"I like him even less now." Malia put in, her jaw clenched.

"Sorry, I'm sorry. I just… I wanted to tell you before Damon dropped it on you on some typically inappropriate way." Stefan told them quickly.

"No, I'm happy that you told me, I just… I really hope that it's not true. What I am supposed to do? Do I just… confront him and say "are you my biological father?'?" Elena demanded.

"I guess… when you're ready."

"I'll do it if you don't." Malia told her. Elena shook her head.

"But… I'm never gonna be ready. Stefan, I have enough problems with the family that I actually care about. Jeremy hates Malia and me, and why wouldn't he? My journal gave him every single reason to."

"He's just hurt, he's confused."

"He's never going to forgive me for Vicki, for taking away his memories, for lying to him…"

"I'm the one that killed Vicki; he's going to hate me more." Malia told her, swallowing hard at the thought. Stefan reached over to put a hand on Elena's shoulder, wisely avoiding touching Malia.

"He's your brother, he'll forgive you. Just give him some time."

* * *

Malia was getting really tired of the crowded streets. She ran after Jeremy and managed to catch up with him and block his path, with Elena stumbling along in her dress behind her.

"Jeremy! I was wondering where you were." Malia told him. Elena caught up to them and gave their brother a wide smile.

"You look great and you guys did a really great job on the float."

"Go away."

"Jeremy, come on! Please!" Malia stepped in front of him so that he couldn't leave. He glared at her.

"Why don't you have Damon erase my memory again? Then I could go back to being your in-the-dark little brother."

"Jer, please." Elena pleaded.

"Just don't! You can't fix this that easily; something like this doesn't just get fixed." He brushed past Malia and disappeared into the crowd. Elena sighed and looked over at the floats.

"You should go get on." Malia muttered. She nodded and reached out for Malia hand.

"We can fix this."

"Doubtful. Go pretend to be some southern princess." Malia encouraged, giving her hand a squeeze and then letting go. Elena smiled and hurried off. The crowded was gathering on the curbs instead, to make way for the floats. Malia stepped up onto the sidewalk and watched as the parade started.

"Let's give a big hand to the Mystic Fall's high school Marching Band!" The marching band and cheerleaders paraded through the streets as everyone applauded and screamed excitedly, like the event didn't happen every single year. Malia rolled her eyes; she'd never liked parades.

"And for a little local history, Mr. Saltzman's students have recreated Virginia's Battle of Willow Creek." The float rolled slowly down the street. Malia spotted Jeremy and Tyler on it, both looking like they'd rather be anyplace else. Malia snapped a photo with her phone and Jeremy caught her doing it. She smiled at him and he rolled his eyes and looked away.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our stunning Miss Mystic Falls Court and their handsome escorts." Elena, Stefan, Caroline, Matt and Jess were on the float, along with the rest of the Miss Mystic Falls Court and their escorts. They smiled and waved to the crowd.

"This is Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls. Aren't they beautiful? Let's cheer for the Mystic Fall's high school football team. Alright! Let's show them our support, everybody!"

* * *

Malia waited outside the bathroom of the school, leaning against the wall with her arms folded across her chest. Elena was changing out of her parade outfit, which seemed to twice as long as it should have. Finally, Elena came out, holding her dress in a plastic bag and wearing normal clothes.

"I am never doing that again." She said, shaking her head.

"They always said I looked like him." Malia said thoughtfully. Elena looked at her, confused.

"What?"

"John. They always said I looked like John."

"They also said you looked like Jenna, so…"

"So you don't believe it's true?"

"I don't think I want to believe it's true." Elena told her. They walked down the otherwise empty school hallways. Elena paused by her locker just long enough to shove her dress unceremoniously inside and slam the door shut. Then they kept going.

"I didn't want to believe that vampires were real or that I was in danger. Look where that got me." Malia told her. Elena sighed, running a hand through her curly hair, but didn't say anything.

"I'm hungry." She finally spoke again as they walked out of the school.

"Now there is something I can agree with." Malia said enthusiastically. Elena looked at her.

"Hungry for _human food_. As something humans eat, not humans themselves." She explained. Malia shot her a look.

"I know."

"Just checking."

* * *

They realized the second they walked inside that the Grill was packed, even more so than usual. There were still more festivities to see, so no one was going home yet. They had spent a month preparing for Founder's Day and everyone intended to make it worth the effort. Damon walked up behind the sisters as they walked into the Grill.

"I like you better like this. The period look, it… didn't suit you." Both girls turned around to look at him.

"Is that an insult?"

"Actually Elena, it is a compliment of the highest order." He corrected her.

"Look, I know Stefan is worried about our… friendship." Elena chose her words carefully.

"Did he mention something to you too?"

"No, did he mention something to you?"

"No, nothing worth repeating."

"So, I think you should stop with the flirty little comments and that eye-thing that you do."

"What eye thing?" He asked, smiling.

"Don't make me regret being your friend, okay?" Elena walked away and Malia followed her.

"First off… Friend? Since when are you even considering friendship with that physco?" She demanded.

"He's not evil, he's hurt. There's a difference."

"He killed me." Malia hissed.

"Not… permanently."

"Are you defending him?"

"No! I'm-." She stopped abruptly when she saw Jeremy sitting at a table, alone. Malia rushed over to him and Elena followed.

"We live in the same house. Avoiding us won't work forever." Malia reminded him the second she was beside him. Elena, true to her character, tried a softer, kinder approach:

"I don't believe that we can't fix this. I lied, I was wrong. But you're my brother, Jer, and I love you, and I have to fix it. So just tell me, what can I do?"

"You can go to heck. Both of you." He got up and walked away.

"Well, that went well." Malia said sarcastically, flopping down on the seat he'd vacated. Elena sighed and sat down beside her.

* * *

Night had fallen and the fireworks were bound to begin at any moment. Damon hurried over to Stefan and Elena. He grabbed Elena's hand to keep them moving.

"What are you doing?" Elena demanded.

"Saving your life. Fifteen words or less… Tomb vamps are here, Founding Families are their target." He turned to Stefan.

"Get her out of here, now!" Damon started to walk away.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"That's more than fifteen words, Stefan."

"Wait!" Elena called out. He stopped, glaring at them.

"Jeremy, Malia and Ava are all members of a Founding Family!" She reminded him. He gritted his teeth, thinking about it. Stefan looked over at Elena.

"Let's find them, come on!" They hurried off. Damon kept moving through the crowd, heading for the old Gilbert clinic.

* * *

Caroline, Jess and Matt sat at a table in the Grill, watching Tyler at the pool table.

"There was this time, freshman year, when Bonnie and I were in a fight and we swore that we would never talk again-." Caroline started.

"Caroline, give it a rest." Matt interrupted. Mayor Lockwood walked over to Tyler. A few quiet words were spoken before Mayor Lockwood grabbed Tyler's arm and began to shout.

"If I tell you to do something, you do it!"

"Let go of me!" Caroline and Jess ran over.

"Mayor, is everything okay?" Caroline asked innocently. Matt walked up behind them, arms folded across his chest. The mayor looked at them and then dropped Tyler's arm.

"Please Tyler; I need you to go home, now. Take your friends with you." He was pleading now.

"Why? What's going on?" Matt asked.

"I can't explain. All of you need to get home, now. Please." He pleaded. Tyler slowly nodded.

"Yeah, okay." Mayor Lockwood handed him the car keys.

"Here, take my car, it's out back. Caroline, Matt, Jess, go with him." They hesitated, but then hurried to grab their stuff and leave.

* * *

Damon looked across the street at the old clinic and started forward. Then something caught his eye. He turned and walked over to Ava, grabbing her arm. She let out a yelp of surprise, turning to look at him.

"You need to leave. Now."

"What? Why? What's going on?" She asked, her voice rising higher in pitch with each word.

"First: dial down the tone. Second: you're a member of a founding family. The tomb vampires are going to kill every found family they find." He explained. Ava's eyes widened.

"Stefan, Jeremy, Malia, Elena-."

"I know, that's covered." He interrupted. He glanced at the Gilbert clinic and then back at her.

"Go, get somewhere safe." He ordered.

"O…okay." She stammered. He let go of her arm and rushed into the Gilbert clinic. Ava started to move towards the residential area of Mystic Falls, knowing that Elena's house was closer than hers, but then stopped and looked after Damon. She pulled out her phone and tried to call Stefan as fireworks erupted in the sky. It rang several times but there was no answer. She looked around, suddenly aware of screaming. Vampires were falling everywhere and deputies immediately jumped on them, injecting them with Vervain. Ava backed up; leaning against a tree and watching it all go down. She hurriedly left a voicemail for Stefan.

"Stefan… Something's happening. They're rounding up vampires. I don't know where you are but you need to get out of here." Then she looked towards clinic.

"I'm going to try and get Damon out of here. Please just find Malia and get her out of here too. I'll meet you back home. Bye." She tucked her phone back into her pocket and ran across the street.

"Damon?" She pushed open the door to the clinic and then stopped dead. Damon was on the floor, holding his head and screaming. John was preparing a syringe of Vervain. She spotted the Vervain at the same time he spotted her.

"No, wait!" She rushed forward and tried to grab the needle before John got get to Damon. John grabbed her outstretched arm and twisted it behind her back.

"You picked the wrong side." He pushed her away, hard. Her head hit the edge of a table and she collapsed in a heap, unconscious. John injected Damon with Vervain and started hauling him down into the basement, leaving Ava on the floor.

* * *

Tyler drove down the street, with Caroline beside him and Jess and Matt in the backseat. Suddenly, he grabbed his head.

"What the heck is that?" He demanded.

"What's the matter?" Caroline asked.

"That noise!"

"Wait, what noise?" Jess asked. Tyler let go of the wheel, grabbed his head and began to scream.

"Tyler! Tyler!"

"Caroline, the wheel!" Caroline reached over and tried to grab the wheel, but the car crashed into a wall.

* * *

Malia was on the ground, screaming and holding her head. _What is this? How can it hurt so much_? She let loose another scream, not caring who saw or heard her sudden moment of pain and weakness. She watched with blurred vision as Alaric intercepted a deputy running towards her.

"Hey, I got this one. There's one over there. Take this, go! Go! Go!" He handed the deputy a stake and the deputy ran off. Alaric ran over to Malia and picked her up. She squeezed her eyes shut, not even caring where they were going. She opened her eyes when she felt Alaric setting her down. Elena leaned over her.

"I don't know what happened, he just dropped. Malia?"

"Yeah, he's not the only one. The cops have gotten everyone who's gone down, injecting them with Vervain."

"What?"

"They're rounding up the vampires." Suddenly, the pain subsided. Malia gasped for breath and looked up at Stefan, who was doing the same.

"It's over." Stefan gasped.

"Are you okay?" Elena asked.

"It was like needles were piercing my skull and it just stopped."

"I saw at least five vampires go down. They're taking them to your family's old building." Alaric reported.

"It's the Gilbert's device. It has to be." Malia told them.

"But how did he get it to work? Bonnie un-spelled it."

"Maybe she didn't." Malia said bitterly.

"She did, we saw her do it!"

"No, no, no, she's right. Think about it. We asked Bonnie to deactivate a device that could protect people against vampires"

"So we could protect you and Malia!"

"And Damon. _Vampires_. Where is Damon?" Stefan asked, looking around.

"I don't know. I haven't seen him since this started." Alaric told him. Stefan pulled out his phone and noticed the missed call from Ava. He listened to it, frowning.

" _Stefan… Something's happening. They're rounding up vampires. I don't know where you are but you need to get out of here._ " There was a long pause.

" _I'm going to try and get Damon out of here. Please just find Malia and get her out of here too. I'll meet you back home. Bye._ " The voicemail ended. Stefan put his phone down again.

"Can you get my brother, take him home?" Elena asked Alaric.

"Of course."

"Let's go." Elena, Malia and Stefan got to their feet and hurried towards the Gilbert clinic.

* * *

Paramedics were examining Tyler. Matt turned towards the two girls. Jess was shaking, in shock from the whole event, but didn't appear to be harmed. Caroline was standing beside her, her arms folded across her chest as she watched the paramedics work.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." The girls repeated it a couple of times, seemingly without realizing they were repeating themselves.

"No, they need to check you out." Matt insisted.

"No, I'm fine, I'm fine. They're helping Tyler." Jess said quickly. He turned back to the paramedics.

"What the heck?!" One of them yelled. Matt ran over to them.

"What's wrong?"

"His eyes!" Suddenly, Tyler woke up, sitting up and looking around.

"What happened?"

"Dude, don't scare me like that!"

"Caroline!" They turned towards Jess's panicked shout. Caroline was unconscious on the ground, with Jess leaning over her. The paramedics rushed over and Matt and Tyler pulled Jess before, before she did more harm than good.

"We need to get her to the hospital, now!"

* * *

Ava opened her eyes with a groan. Her head felt like it had been hit with something very heavy. Then she remembered: _it had_. She sat up, but immediately fell back down again, her head spinning. Flames burned all around her and she crawled backwards against the wall. She craned her neck and saw that the basement was already filled with fire. A spark flew onto her jacket and the sleeve caught fire. She shrieked, pulled it off and threw it away from her. Then she forced herself to her feet, leaning against the wall for support and crawled away from the flames towards the utility door.

* * *

Elena, Malia and Stefan ran over to John, who stood near the burning Gilbert clinic. They stopped in front of him and he turned to look at them.

"Where's Damon?" Elena demanded.

"With the rest of them, where he should be. It's over for Damon."

"You're crazy!" Elena yelled at him.

"Why? Because I'm doing what should have been done a hundred and forty five years ago? This is the right thing, Elena." John turned to Stefan and Malia as they started to edge towards the building.

"Go ahead, you won't make it out. It'll save me the trouble of killing you myself."

"Utility door. Come on!" Malia and Stefan raced for the side of the building. Elena started to follow but John caught her arm.

"You take one more step and I'll alert those deputies that they missed two vampires."

"I'm asking you not to."

"That doesn't mean anything to me."

"As my father, _as Malia's father,_ it should."

"You know."

"I wasn't sure, now I am." She ran towards the building.

* * *

Malia and Stefan pulled open the utility door and the heat from the fire made them back up. Bonnie walked over to them.

"Hey, you can't go in there! The fire will take you out."

"He's my brother, Bonnie!" Stefan ran into the building and Malia followed. Stefan stopped before the basement door and turned to look to his side.

"Ava!" He ran over to her and helped her over to Malia. Malia grabbed her arm and slung it around her shoulders to help support her. Blood gushed from a cut on her forehead and she seemed more than a little out of it.

"Get her out here." Stefan ordered. Malia helped her out the door.

"Ava!" Elena started over to help, but Bonnie looked at them and then caught Elena's arm.

"Bonnie, what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry I lied to you." She closed her eyes and started reciting a spell. Malia and Ava stumbled past them. Malia set Ava down on the curb, her eyes glancing up at the blood. Ava looked at her, suspicious and only half conscious, coughing from having inhaled so much smoke.

"I'm okay. You're okay." Malia gasped, sitting down beside her. She looked over her shoulder as Stefan carried Damon from the building. Bonnie stopped her spell and released Elena. Elena ran over to hug Stefan.

* * *

Matt sat down next to Jess in the hallway of the hospital. She had her knees pulled up to her chest, her eyes were staring at the wall opposite of her without really seeing and her strawberry blonde hair was tangled and messy. It was a far cry from her normal confident and secure look. Tyler came and joined them, sitting on Jess's other side.

"I'm so sorry. Look, I don't even know what happened."

"It's okay, man. She'll be alright." Matt assured him. Jess nodded absentmindedly in agreement. Sheriff Forbes walked over to them.

"Mom! What's happening? Is she alright? I need to see her!" Jess jumped to her feet, her eyes wide.

"There was some internal bleeding; they're taking her into surgery."

"What else did they say? Is she gonna be okay?" Jess demanded.

"They're gonna do everything they can." Sheriff Forbes told her slowly. Jess slowly collapsed onto her chair again. Sheriff Forbes looked at Tyler.

"Tyler, have you talked to your mom?"

"I left her a message telling her I was here."

"You need to call her... It's your dad." Tyler stood up, already pulling out his phone, and disappeared around the corner. Sheriff Forbes backtracked over to the doctor to talk to him again. Matt put a hand on Jess's shoulder and felt she was shaking with each sob.

"It's going to be okay. It's Caroline, she always makes it through." Matt reminded her. Jess just continued to sob.

* * *

Elena and Malia walked up to the porch of the Gilbert house, both exhausted from the night's events.

"I can't believe someone stole my stuff." Elena was complaining.

"It's just clothes."

"I know…." Elena shook her head and pushed open the front door.

"Jeremy? Jeremy, are you home?" She called immediately. Malia grabbed her arm suddenly. Elena looked at her.

"Blood." Malia crept slowly towards the kitchen…


	31. Aftermaths

**A/N Fair warning, this is a long chapter, but I did manage to squeeze the entire first episode of season 2 into one chapter. So, enjoy!**

* * *

After about two steps, Malia's weary, slow pace, turned into a sprint as she rounded the corner into the kitchen.

"Elena!" Elena rushed in after her and gasped when she saw John on the floor, bleeding badly. Malia stumbled backwards, her fangs extending. Elena ran over and grabbed a towel to try and stop the bleeding. She grabbed the phone and dialed quickly as Malia braced herself against the nearby wall, her eyes squeezed shut as she struggled to control herself.

"I… I need an ambulance… to 2104 Maple Street!" Elena stuttered into the phone.

"Behind you." John whispered weakly. She looked at him.

"What?"

"Behind you!" Elena turned around and saw a dark figure behind Malia.

"Malia!" Elena shouted a warning and Malia was instantly alert, whirling around. The figure sped off, disappearing. Malia's fangs extended and she walked into the dining room to look around. Elena reached up and grabbed the knife from the counter, still practically dripping with blood. The figure sped out the door, letting it slam shut behind them. Malia looked around again. Then she remembered something.

"Jeremy!" She darted up the stairs, barging into his room. He was lying unconscious on his bed. She ran over and started frantically shaking him.

"Jeremy, Jeremy, wake up!" His eyes shot up and he gasped.

"What happened? Are you hurt?" She demanded. He looked past her and she followed his eyes, looking into the bathroom. A small flash with a few remaining drops of blood and an empty bottle of pills sat on the counter. She turned back to Jeremy.

"Jeremy…"

"Anna gave me her blood." He told her. She stared at him.

"What?"

"Malia!" Elena's yell could be heard from downstairs. Malia darted back downstairs and Jeremy got up and ran after her.

"I… I can't stop the bleeding…" Elena was sobbing.

"I… I can't get any closer, Elena…" Malia reminded her, backing away. She bumped into Jeremy, who brushed past her and ran over to help Elena. John was unconscious, the knife was lying on the floor and Elena had gone through three towels trying to stop the bleeding. Malia backed up even farther, tripped over a chair in the dining room and fell to the floor. She didn't get up, just crawled backwards.

"What happened?!" Jeremy demanded.

"I… a vampire… I don't know…" Elena stammered.

"Where's Jenna?"

"I don't know… Not here…" Elena replied. Malia held her head in her hands, trying not to breathe at all. Sirens sounded outside. She jumped up and ran to the door. _Finally, an ambulance that actually arrives quickly_ , she thought to herself. She let the paramedics in and then backed up to sit on the stairs instead. The paramedics quickly took over and transported him out to the ambulance. Elena and Jeremy soon joined her to stay out of their way. The police arrived to question them. They all gave the same story: they had no idea what had happened and that they had found him like that.

"Jeremy, go upstairs." Malia told him after the questioning was finished.

"You can't just tell me what to-."

"Go." She snapped at him. He glared at her, but then went upstairs. Malia collapsed on the landing of the stairs, leaning against the wall. Elena went over to her and sat down next to her, hugging her knees to her chest. Her hands, shirt and jeans were covered in blood, but she didn't seem to notice.

"I called Stefan." She informed Malia.

"Jeremy took vampire blood and then over dosed."

"What?" Elena turned to look at her in shock.

"If he's a vampire… I'm going to kill him."

"You… you can't tell?"

"I don't know how to tell, Elena. How long until Stefan's here?" Malia asked. Elena got up as she heard the officer's talking to someone on the porch outside and went to the front door.

"He's okay!" She called out. Stefan walked into the house.

"What happened?"

"I think it was a vampire." Elena told him as they moved to talk on the stairs.

"I know it was a vampire. Did you see how she moved?" Malia demanded.

" _She_?" Stefan echoed.

"It was a she, trust me." Malia told him.

"And Jeremy… He said that Anna gave him vampire blood and then he took these pills and…" Stefan looked towards Malia as Elena trailed off, burying her face in her hands.

"He looks fine, but so do we, so I don't know. He's in his room." She told him, pushing herself to her feet. The trio hurried upstairs. Jeremy was waiting on his bed, not unlike a child waiting for punishment. Stefan looked Jeremy in the eye.

"Look at me." He ordered. Stefan looked at him closely but Jeremy shrugged his hands off his shoulders.

"I'm fine, okay? I feel exactly the same."

"I don't know what to do. Should I call a paramedic up here or…?" Elena trailed off, unsure.

"No, he's fine." Stefan assured her.

"You mean I'm not a vampire?" Off Stefan's look, Jeremy cussed.

"Don't say that Jeremy! Why would you want that?" Malia demanded.

"Did you hear about what happened to Anna tonight? She's dead!" Jeremy shouted, standing up from the bed. Malia grabbed his shoulders and shoved him back down on the bed.

"Look at me, Jeremy! You still have vampire blood in your systems but not for long. If you try to kill yourself again, you could really die!" She told him firmly.

"What about the pills. He over-dosed on them!" Elena reminded them.

"He didn't take enough. The blood healed him." Stefan told her. A police office knocked on the doorframe and poked his head in.

"Miss Gilbert?"

"What?" Elena and Malia both turned around.

"I need to talk to Elena."

"Okay, I'll be right there." Elena told him. He turned and walked away, but returned within seconds.

"Is a Miss Ava Salvatore okay to come in?"

"Yeah, let her in." Elena said hurriedly. He disappeared again. Ava came running upstairs. She had obviously gotten cleaned up in the short time since the incident at the clinic; her black hair was flat and limp, still wet from the shower, her dirty clothes had been exchanged for a new pair of jeans and a black and white striped long-sleeved shirt and she had more than a few butterfly bandages on her head wound. They were too neatly-aligned to have been done herself and Elena knew Stefan didn't have the control to do it, which left Damon. Elena decided against saying anything about it.

"What happened?" Ava demanded, looking at all of them in turn. Malia explained everything as shortly and simply as possible, a talent of hers.

"You need to be at the hospital." Stefan told the three girls soon as Malia finished her explanation.

"What I _need_ to do, is stay here." Malia protested.

"Caroline's hurt. Jess is probably freaking out. Go to the hospital. I'll stay with Jeremy." Stefan told them.

"I don't need a babysitter!" Jeremy protested. They all shot him looks.

"Yes, you do."

* * *

Malia had always hated hospitals. All the white, all the sickness, all the fake kindness the nurses had that made you want to punch them in the face for being so fake-cheery all the time… Now that she was a vampire, the smell of cleaning supplies burned her nose and the smell of blood all around her tempted her.

"Jess!" Ava saw the strawberry blonde haired girl first and raced over. Malia hurried after her and in the next second, the trio was in a group hug.

"How's Caroline?" Ava asked as they pulled away. Jess wiped at her red, swollen eyes with her sleeve.

"She's… not good."

"What happened?" Malia demanded in her usual I'm-going-kill-the-person-responsible tone of voice. Jess sat down on the plastic chair behind her again, clasping her hands together and resting her chin on them.

"Tyler was driving us home from the Grill… Uh, his dad freaked out and told us we needed to go home so we were going and… I don't know, he said he heard something. He lost control of the car. I thought that Caroline was fine… but she wasn't… and now the doctor's just let her out of surgery and I barely even know what's happening…" Jess was crying by the time she finished. Malia and Ava sat on either side of her, waiting until she was ready to talk again. After a minute, she was.

"Does this have anything to do with… _vampires_?" Jess whispered the last part to make sure no one else heard.

"The town was rounding up vampires tonight. There was a device that hurt vampires through sound so that it was easier to round them up." Malia explained quietly. Jess frowned.

"Is Tyler a-?"

"I don't know what the dude is anymore. But he's not a vampire." Malia told her, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back against the plastic back of the chair. Jess rubbed her face with her hands.

"Isn't there something someone can do to help Caroline?"

"I'm sure the doctors are doing everything they can-." Ava started. Jess jumped up and out of her chair.

"Well, that's not enough!" She screamed. Everyone in the vicinity turned to look at her. Malia shot everyone a look and they looked away. Ava gently pulled Jess back down into her seat.

"Bonnie's a witch. Maybe she can do some kind of spell to keep her alive." Ava suggested.

"If she could keep people from dying… wouldn't she have done that by now?" Malia whispered back. Ava nodded in agreement, chewing on her lower lip.

"What about you?" Jess turned to look at Malia.

"Vampire blood heals injuries."

"So do it! Give her some of your blood! Does it need to be a transfusion or something? I don't care what has to happen!" Jess struggled to keep her voice low.

"I don't know if vampire blood can heal something like internal bleeding, Jess! I've never tried to do something like that."

"Then try it now!" Jess begged.

"If she dies with vampire blood in her system, she'll become a vampire." Malia explained.

"If the vampire blood works, she won't die. You kept me in the dark all this time… we've barely spoken to each other in weeks! You owe me this. Please!" Jess begged. Malia took a deep breath.

"Where is she?"

* * *

Sheriff Forbes walked over to Jess. Malia had left to go check on her brother, but Ava had elected to stay with her. Now, the youngest Salvatore was curled up on the chair beside her in what had to be an uncomfortable position, her face buried in her crook of her arm. Jess looked up at the Sheriff.

"They said that her recovery is amazing." Sheriff Forbes said with a sigh of relief. Jess stood up.

"When can I see her?"

"They said they'd allow visitors in an hour or so." Jess exhaled; it felt like she'd been holding her breath since the car accident.

"In the meantime, I want to talk you."

"About?" Jess asked, suspicious.

"You've been avoiding me ever since the animal attack. I just want to know that you're okay." There were a million things that Jess wanted to say, none of them kind. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to stop herself and the first thing that came to mind was the first thing out of her mouth:

"When were you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Sheriff Forbes looked shocked by the sudden question, but also genuinely confused.

"That I was adopted."

"What?"

"Oh, don't! Okay, just don't play dumb!" Jess's voice rose to a yell.

"How did you find out?"

"That's what you want to talk about? How I found out? How about why you never told me? Or who my biological family is? Or anything else regarding the lies I've been told?" Jess shouted.

"Jess, calm down…" Sheriff Forbes cast a glance around.

"Don't tell me to calm down." Jess snapped, her voice lowering even as she said it.

"Your father and I were going to tell you when you were older."

"I'm seventeen! How much older did you want me to get?!" Jess demanded.

"Honey-."

"Don't. Just don't. Why don't you go do what you do best: ignoring us? Leave me alone." Jess turned her back to her mom and Sheriff Forbes slowly walked away. Jess glanced at Ava, who was wide awake and watching.

"What just happened?" Jess wiped at her eyes, something she'd been doing all night.

"I want to go home. Did you drive here?" Jess asked. Ava nodded.

"Can you take me home? I… I just want to get cleaned up before I come back to see Caroline. She'll freak out if she sees me all messed up like this." She explained. Ava nodded again and grabbed her bag.

"Let's go."

* * *

Malia, Damon and Elena walked into the Gilbert House, only to stop when they saw Stefan on the floor. He jumped to his feet when he saw them. Elena ran over to him as Malia and Damon looked around for danger.

"What happened?" Damon demanded.

"Katherine happened."

"Did she saw what she wanted?" Damon asked.

"No."

"Woman certainly knows how to make an entrance…" He muttered, folding his arms across his chest.

"She said she fooled one of us at least. What did she mean?" Stefan asked, staring hard at his brother.

"She pretended to be Elena too when I showed up earlier tonight."

"Katherine was in this house, which means she's been invited in. And I think we all know what happens to vampires that have been invited in." Malia put in. A smile crept onto her lips as she thought of staking the vampire that had started every single one of their problems.

"Clearly, Katherine has plans. She could've killed both of you. She didn't. Why?" Damon looked between Elena and Malia.

"She knew I'd take her out."

"Yeah, no, you wouldn't. Next guess?" Damon asked. She shot him a look.

"We need to find out what those other plans are and not provoke her in the process. What happened tonight when you thought she was Elena?" Stefan asked.

"To risk another frown line on a very crowded forehead… We kissed."

"And you thought it was me?" Elena demanded.

"What do you mean you kissed?" Stefan asked.

"Well, you know, when two lips pucker and they go-." Damon started making kissing sounds. Stefan rushed at Damon but Damon stepped out of his way, closer to the Gilbert sisters. Malia punched him in the face.

"Thank you." Stefan told her, still glaring at Damon.

"You're more than welcome." Malia shot Damon a dirty look and folded her arms across her chest.

"Guys!" Elena spoke loudly to get everyone's attention and then continued:

"John must know something. There has to be a reason why Katherine tried to kill him."

"She's Katherine. She loves to play games and you're fooling yourself if you think you're going to find out what she's been up to before she wants you to know." Damon explained.

"No, actually, Elena's right. John could know something through Isobel. So maybe we can go to the hospital and get him to talk."

"I've got a better idea."

"What's that?"

"I'm just gonna ignore her."

"Is that smart?" Elena asked nervously.

"If I was being ignored, I would do something dramatic, something with some finesse to it. As in killing. So, no, not smart." Malia told her.

"Exactly. It'll lure her out."

"Yeah, and then what?"

"Stake her… rip her head off… something poetic. We'll see."

* * *

Malia, Stefan and Elena walked down the hallway of the hospital to John's room. The second they entered, John panicked. He tried to press the button to call the nurse but Malia grabbed his hand and took the button away from him. Elena held up her hands, as if in surrender.

"I'm Elena. I'm not… I'm not Katherine."

"We know she did this to you." Stefan told him.

"We need to know why." Malia added, tired of the small-talk.

"Where is she?" John asked.

"How bout you tell us, daddy dearest?" Malia growled back.

"I don't know." He admitted. He started to sit up but Malia pushed him back down with one hand.

"You're a little too weak to be playing tough guy, don't you think? So why don't you sit back, relax… and tell us everything we need to know?" Elena stepped forward and put the Gilbert ring into John's hand.

"Please, tell us why she's here. What does she want?" John didn't respond.

"She'll try again; we can't help you if you don't confide in us." Stefan added.

"In you?"

"In your daughters then." Stefan told him.

"One daughter is no better than you and my other should've driven a stake through your heart by now." John snapped. Malia took a step back and folded her arms across her chest; his words weren't exactly loving. John turned to Elena.

"I never spoke with Katherine directly. She never trusted me." He turned back to Stefan and Malia.

"So either kill me or get out because I can't stand the sight of you with my daughter."

"Can't stand the sight of me either?" Malia asked, her voice oddly quiet. John didn't answer; he didn't have to. She nodded knowingly and walked out of the room without another word. Elena looked back at John.

"You see the world with such hatred… Maybe that's why you're so alone." She hurried after Malia.

* * *

Jess nearly sprinted into Caroline's hospital room. Caroline looked up from the magazine she was reading and barely had enough time to put it down before Jess was hugging her. She let out a moan.

"Ow. Still sore."

"Sorry." Jess pulled away.

"You're okay!" She added, sitting on the edge of Caroline's bed. Caroline smiled widely at her.

"What, you thought that I wasn't going to be? I'm Caroline freaking Forbes!"

"How could I forget?"

"You were supposed to visit me earlier." Caroline reminded her, grabbing her hands.

"I kind of fell asleep…" Jess admitted.

"Well, you look like you could use some more… Do we know when I'm getting out yet?"

"No, but I can go ask the doctor." Jess started to get up but Caroline pulled her back down.

"No, it's okay. I just want to sit and talk with you for a while."

"That, I can do."

* * *

Malia walked into Elena's bedroom, then stopped and stared suspiciously. Damon was standing in front of Elena, looking both upset and drunk. Malia walked over and pushed him back.

"What is going on here?" She demanded, talking to Elena but not taking her eyes off Damon.

"Nothing." Elena said coldly, staring at Damon.

"Why don't you go home?" Malia suggested, grabbing Damon by the shoulders and trying to steer him out of the room. He shook her off.

"There's something going on between the two of us and you know it. And you're lying to me and you're lying to Stefan and, most of all, you're lying to yourself. I can prove it." Damon said. He grabbed her and kissed her. Elena started struggling, trying to push him away. Malia grabbed him and pushed him back, causing him to stumble and hit the wall behind him.

"What is wrong with you? You know what? Don't even answer that. It'll take too long to list." Malia tried to grab Damon again but he shoved her aside. He tried to kiss Elena again, but she was prepared; she shoved him, hard, away from her as Malia got her footing again.

"Damon, just leave!" Elena cried.

"You can't deny it!"

"Yes, I can! I care about you, but I love Stefan. It's always going to be Stefan!" Elena told him. Jeremy came into the room.

"What's going on in here?" He demanded.

"Nothing, Jeremy. Just go back to bed." Elena pleaded. Damon darted over to Jeremy and grabbed him by the throat, pinning him against the wall.

"He wants to be a vampire…"

"No, Damon, stop it!" Elena cried. Malia grabbed Damon in a choke-hold, trying to wrestle him of her brother.

"You want to shut out the pain? It's the easiest thing in the world. The part of you that cares just goes away. All you have to do is flip the switch and snap!" He snapped Jeremy's neck. Malia instantly let him go to rush over to his body.

"Damon, NO!" Elena screamed. Damon left as Malia bit into her wrist. Elena stopped her, grabbing her hand.

"It's…it's not going to work… he's…he's…" Elena spotted the ring on his finger and grabbed his hand for a better look. Malia looked at it too. It was a Gilbert ring; the same that brought John and Alaric back to life. She sighed in relief, but Malia still looked ticked.

"It's Katherine. She messed with him." Elena whispered.

"What, like he's not messed up on his own?" Malia demanded.

"He doesn't want to feel… he wants to be hated, it's just easier that way… He got his wish." Elena growled.

"I'm going to kill him." Malia said determinedly.

"You're not a killer, Malia." Elena choked out.

"If you think that, then you really don't know me, sis."

"I think I know you better than you'd like to admit." Elena shot back. The sisters shifted positions so that Jeremy's head was on Malia's lap and Elena could sit next to Malia, her head resting on Malia's shoulder. Malia watched the clock, hoping that the Gilbert ring hadn't run out of magic juice, or whatever it was that made it work. Finally, Jeremy gasped to life, sitting up immediately.

"Jeremy!" Malia was on him in an instant, hugging him.

"He _killed_ me… Damon killed me!" He cried.

"It's okay. You're okay. Shush, shush." Elena joined Malia in hugging Jeremy. After a long minute, Elena looked up.

"Katherine doesn't like being ignored… She retaliated… How do we know she only messed with Damon?" Malia grabbed her phone from her pocket and dialed quickly. Ava answered after the second ring.

" _What's up?_ "

"Where are you?"

" _With Stefan; we're driving back home. What's going on?_ "

"Oh, you know, you demonic uncle killed my brother because Katherine's mad… Other than that, everything's peachy." Malia could hear Ava's breath catch in her throat.

" _What? Jeremy's… No… He's not._ "

"Calm down, calm down. He was wearing a Gilbert ring. He's fine."

" _Are you sure_?" Ava asked, her voice rising in pitch, like it always did when she freaked out. Malia was getting impatient; she had another very important person to call.

"He's fine. Here." She handed the phone to Jeremy.

"Talk to Ava." She ordered. Then she turned to Elena.

"Give me your phone." Elena handed hers over without protest. She quickly dialed Jess's number.

* * *

Jess walked towards the exit of the dimly lit hospital. The nurse was nice enough to let her stay for a while but had kicked her out to let Caroline get some sleep. Elena walked past her and she stopped, turning to look at her.

"Elena?" She stopped and turned around, a smile on her face.

"Hey, I just wanted to stop in and see Caroline."

"The nurse just kicked me out. I don't think you'll be getting in."

"Well, maybe I can try some Gilbert charm. Go get some sleep; you look like you could use it."

"So I've been told. Goodnight."

"Night." Jess walked away, pushing the glass door open and stepping into the cool night air. Her phone vibrated in her jacket pocket and she pulled it out, answering it when she recognized the caller.

"Hey, Malia."

" _Where are you_?"

"Just coming out of the hospital from seeing Caroline… I just saw Elena, if you were calling to ask about her."

" _You what?_ "

"I saw Elena. What's the matter?"

" _Jess, that's not Elena!_ " Jess stopped mid-stride.

"What are you talking about?"

" _That's Katherine. Old evil vampire. Jess, Elena's right next to me._ " Jess hung up without another word, then turned and sprinted back into the hospital. She sprinted past the nurse's station and the nurse looked up.

"I told you to go home!" She called after Jess. Jess hit the corner and stopped to look back at her.

"Caroline's in trouble." She barreled into the room, but Katherine was gone. Caroline was lying on the bed and Jess looked at her. Her eyes were closed and her chest wasn't rising and falling like she was breathing. Jess ran over to her.

"Caroline, Caroline!" The nurse ran in after her and immediately realized the problem. She turned and yelled for a doctor, then came and pulled Jess away as doctors rushed in and became CPR. Jess struggled weakly against the nurse as she was dragged out of the room, desperate to get back to her sister's side.

"Caroline!"


	32. Reality Check

**A/N This is the full episode of 'Brave New World'. I haven't been splitting episodes into two chapters lately because they haven't been long enough. I'm thinking that's only going to happen when a lot of things happen in an episode and I have to cover the thoughts and actions of a lot of characters. This mainly just focuses on Caroline and Jess. Enjoy!**

* * *

When the Sheriff ran into the hospital, it wasn't hard to spot the crying strawberry blonde in the hallway nearest to Caroline's room. Sheriff Forbes rushed over to her.

"What happened?" She demanded. Jess sniffed and ran a sleeve over her eyes.

"Her heart stopped. They got it going again and they said she's okay." She explained. Sheriff Forbes sighed in relief. A doctor walked over to them and Sheriff Forbes turned to him expectantly.

"She's doing fine now. We can't explain it."

"That's not encouraging." Sheriff Forbes told him coldly.

"I know… She's doing fine now." He repeated. Sheriff Forbes hesitated but then nodded to him.

"We can call you if anything else happens." He offered.

"Fine… Jess, let's go home." The doctor walked away and Sheriff Forbes reached to touch Jess's shoulder. Jess jerked away before she could make contact and then hurried away.

"Jess!" Sheriff Forbes called after her. Jess didn't slow down so the Sheriff sped up to try and catch up with her. Jess got to her car, although it technically Caroline's, and started fumbling with her keys to try and get in.

"Jessica!" Jess nearly dropped her keys at the sudden reference to her by her full name. She turned around.

"What do you want me to say, mom? That I'm not upset that I'm adopted? I am. I am so freaking upset right now. And I don't want to talk about it." Jess told her. She unlocked the car door and yanked it open.

"I want to fix this." Sheriff Forbes told her, in a tone that said this was not her area of expertise. Jess took a deep breath.

"Tell me why you adopted me."

"We wanted another baby girl. We thought... wrongly… that another baby would help us save our marriage. Obviously, it didn't."

"Obviously." Jess said, swallowing hard. Then she shook her head; divorce was not her biggest issue at the moment.

"Where did I get adopted from?"

"What do you mean?"

"The town. The area. The state. Anything."

"Oregon."

"Where in Oregon?"

"Somewhere around Portland. I don't have all the details."

"You… don't have all the details? I think this is something where details matter, mom!" Jess cried.

"I know, but it was a closed adoption. We don't know much about it at all." Sheriff Forbes explained. Jess nodded slowly and then climbed into the car.

"I'm going home."

* * *

Ava stood by Jeremy's locker, talking to him. He kept twisting the Vervain bracelet around his wrist. All around them, the school was busy preparing for the carnival that night, so they were just trying to keep out of everyone's way.

"So this is what protects me from compulsion?"

"Vervain is also toxic to vampires. Like, burning, screaming kind of toxic." Ava agreed, nodding.

"But why Vervain?" He asked. Ava shrugged.

"I don't know."

"And a stake to the heart will kill them?"

"Right."

"Do you have Vervain on you?"

"Right here." Ava held up her gold and blue heart-shaped locket.

"I can't believe you live with vampires…" He said, shaking his head. She let the locket drop against her chest again.

"I live with _my uncle._ Damon will move on from this town soon, hopefully, and it'll just be me and Stefan."

"And that's good?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" She asked, confused. Jeremy shook his head again.

"A vampire is a vampire."

"Your sister is a vampire."

"She hasn't killed me or tried to kill Jess."

"Stefan didn't mean to-!"

"I'm going to go set up the ring toss." He interrupted, brushing past her. She stared after him, frowning.

* * *

Ava had become more than a little skeptic of any kind of event set after sun set, but the carnival seemed to be going well enough. No one had gotten their head chewed off yet, which was a success in her book.

"Hey, Ava!" Jess hurried over to her, looking a lot better than she had the previous couple of days. Her hair was pulled back into a thick braid and she was wearing a lacey white summer dress with a red leather jacket. The best friends gave each other a quick hug.

"How's Caroline?"

"Better today. She insisted that I make sure everything runs smoothly here."

"Of course she did. And they are. Kind-of. Mostly. Nothing we can't handle." Ava assured her.

"What can you handle?"

"The ring toss is out of Bart and Homer dolls and team Jacob tees and we lost a speaker in the karaoke booth."

"It's all good. Forbes' are trained to handle situations like these." Jess started to smile but then stopped. Ava looked at her.

"So… uh… I heard kind of what you were arguing with your mom about and… you're adopted?"

"Found out the hard way too."

"Met your birth parents?"

"Saw that my blood type didn't match theirs while I was in the hospital."

"Oh." Ava was frowning; she couldn't imagine finding out that way, but that was mostly because anything to do with blood or blood types went way over her head. Suddenly, she stopped walking. Jess looked at her.

"What?"

"Damon, Damon!" Ava ran as fast as she could in her high-heeled leather boots to get between Damon and Jeremy. Jess hurried after her. Damon barely noticed either one of them.

"Please tell me that is not a threat." Damon growled.

"Maybe it is." Jeremy held up his hand, showing him the ring. Damon grabbed him by the throat. Jess looked around, wondering what on earth she was supposed to do. Ava immediately panicked, trying to separate them.

"Damon, Damon, don't!" She pleaded.

"What are you going to do, run away and get Stefan?" Damon asked, more than a little patronizing.

"Maybe I'll Malia and she'll come with a stake." Ava threatened.

"Nobody threatens me. Especially when it's this easy for me to do this." Damon held up the ring he stole off Jeremy's hand.

"Damon!" He glared at both of them in turn and then released Jeremy. He tossed the ring back to him and walked off. Jess looked between the two darker haired teens.

"What just happened?" Before either of them could answer, Jess's phone went off. She pulled it out of her pocket and was just about to hit the 'ignore' button when she realized who was calling. She answered and put her phone to her ear, taking a few steps away from Ava and Jeremy, who appeared to be whispering around the possibilities of Damon tripping and falling on a stake.

"Caroline?"

" _Hey! So the doctor said I'm as good as new. He signed me out, said that I didn't have to wait till morning_."

"That's great. I'll come pick you-."

" _No, don't worry about it. I'm already on my way to the carnival_." Caroline interrupted. Jess frowned.

"Don't you think you should go home and rest?"

" _I've done enough resting. I want to have fun. I'll see you in a few minutes_." With that, Caroline hung up. Jess pulled her phone away from her ear and frowned again.

* * *

Malia and Stefan came up on either side of Damon as he stared at Tyler arm wrestling. Both of them folded their arms across their chest in unison. Damon looked between them quickly but then turned his attention back to Tyler.

"You're lurking." Stefan told him.

"I'm observing."

"More like obsessing."

"If this was any less crowded…" Malia let the threat hang there, shooting him a look that should've killed him. Tyler won the arm wrestle.

"He's got strength."

"He's a triple letter varsity athletic that's been on the football team since freshmen year… Yeah, he's strong. What's your point?" Malia demanded.

"Damon thinks that the Lockwood's are supernatural creatures. He's reaching." Stefan explained. Mason Lockwood walked over to Tyler.

"I bet I could beat you."

"Enter the uncle…" Damon murmured.

"This is stupid. I've known Tyler since we were in kindergarten and he cut off my braid, alright? He's a jerk, he's not anything supernatural." Malia protested.

"The Gilbert device affected him." Damon hissed. In front of them, Mason beat Tyler in the arm wrestle. Tyler laughed a little.

"Okay, he's the champ. Who wants to go next?" He called out.

"Malia wants to go!" Damon pointed at her, smiling widely. Malia sighed, but nodded.

"Yeah, sure, I'll give it a shot."

"Don't worry, Malia, I'll go easy on you." Mason told her as she striped off her jacket and tossed it to Stefan. She rolled up her sleeves.

"I'm surprised you remember me."

"What, the little girl who punched out Tyler during my last visit because he called her ugly? How could I forget?" Mason told her, smiling widely. Behind Mason, Tyler rolled his eyes. Malia smirked and they started arm wrestling. Immediately, Malia's smirk turned into a frown.

"Too hard?" Mason asked, easing on the pressure.

"Hardly... Show me what you got." She put her vampire strength to use, but it didn't work. Mason got her hand down on the other side of the table and then released her.

"Hey, you gave me a run for my money." He high-fived her and then started calling out for another volunteer. She walked over to Stefan and Damon again.

"You didn't put in any effort at all." Damon complained.

"Yeah, I did!" She growled. His smile faded.

"Come with me." The trio found a deserted hallway and stopped there to talk in private. Damon turned to Malia.

"Is he…?"

"He's not a vampire. He's… I don't know…. different."

"What's up with that family? They're not vampires… so what are they?" Damon demanded.

"Maybe they're ninja turtles." Stefan suggested, earning himself a death look from Damon.

"You're not funny."

"Or zombies, werewolves…." He continued.

"No comedic timing at all…" Damon turned his head and saw a man carrying a toolbox. He hurried over.

"What, what are you up to?" Stefan asked.

"Since this is reality and there's no such thing as werewolves or combat turtles..."

"I said ninja turtles, actually."

"Hey, you!" Damon called out to the man.

"I have a name."

"Yeah, I don't care." He caught the man's shoulders and compelled him.

"I need you to pick a fight with someone, a kid named Tyler Lockwood."

"Damon, don't!" Malia protested.

"It's just an experiment. Get him mad, don't back down no matter what he does, okay?"

"I won't back down."

"I know you won't." Damon released him and he left.

"Do you realize someone is going to get hurt?"

"No, someone is going to get made, as in rage." Damon corrected.

"What is that going to accomplish? You've already won the award for biggest jerk in the world; you don't have that much competition." Malia told him.

"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me. And that Tyler kid is incapable of walking away from a fight. Let's see who intervenes. Maybe it's the ambiguous, supernatural mystery uncle." Damon smirked and walked away. Stefan and Malia looked each other.

"Let's go see what happens." Stefan said with a sigh of annoyance at his brother's antics.

* * *

Stefan and Malia hid behind a car, watching as the man Damon compelled pushed Tyler.

"Watch where you're going." Tyler told him.

"You got a problem?"

"Yeah, you walked right into me."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"You're kidding, right?" The man pushed Tyler again.

"You better back off." The man shoved him a third time.

"You hit me again, I swear-." Tyler was interrupted with a punch in the face. As they started fighting, Malia started to stand up. Stefan grabbed her and pulled her back down. She looked at him and he shook his head, keeping his hands on her arms to hold her there, knowing how hard it was for her to stay out of a fight. Mason arrived and pulled the man away.

"Hey, Tyler, Tyler! What the heck man?" Mason demanded. The man punched him in the face and shoved him into a car. Malia and Stefan watched as Mason's eyes changed to a golden yellow and he started pulling some fact paced, hard-hitting moves. As the compelled man fell to the ground, Mason and Tyler got up and left. Stefan ran over to the man.

"You alright, man?"

"Why did I just do that?" He moaned.

"You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Stefan helped him to his feet and sent him off. Malia turned to him.

"Did you see those eyes?"

"Yeah."

"That's not natural."

"No."

"Damon was right, he's something." Malia whispered. Then she smirked and looked at him.

"Maybe he _is_ a ninja turtle. Did you see those moves? Very ninja-turtle-like." She teased. Stefan rolled his eyes.

"Now I'm sorry I said anything."

"I'm not letting this go, you know that, right?"

"Oh, I can assume. Come on." They headed back towards the school. Damon met them as they reached the front lawn.

"We have to talk."

* * *

Elena, Malia, Stefan and Damon were gathered in an empty classroom. Damon had filled them in on Caroline's new vampire status.

"How did this happen?" Stefan demanded.

"I gave her my blood." Malia told him. Everyone looked at her.

"She was dying! Jess asked me to!"

"Katherine obviously killed her and a plus b equals…" Damon trailed off, his point made.

"But why?" Elena asked.

"Because Katherine is a manipulative nasty little slut." Malia suggested.

"And she said 'game on'? What does that even mean?" Stefan asked.

"It means that she's playing dirty and she wants us to know." Damon explained.

"But why Caroline?" Elena asked.

"I don't know." Damon admitted.

"Caroline must be completely out of her mind. She doesn't even know what's happening to her." Stefan reminded them.

"Oh I think she does. All of my compulsion from the past started wearing off the minute she was in transition." Damon told them.

"We have to find her."

"Yep and kill her." Damon agreed.

"You are not going to kill Caroline." Malia told him firmly.

"She knows who we are. She's officially a liability and we've got to get rid of her." He explained.

"Damon, absolutely not." Stefan told him.

"Need I remind you of a tragic little story of a girl named Vicki Donovan? Caroline, of all people, will not make it as a vampire. Her mother is a vampire hunter. Guys, come on, we all know how this story's gonna end, just flip to the last chapter and-." Malia cut him off.

"I made it. Caroline can make it."

"Then what do you want us to do?"

"Firstly, find Jess."

* * *

Jess wandered away from the carnival, still looking for her sister. Caroline had to have arrived, but finding her was proving to be more difficult than she'd expected. She stopped walking when she heard crying and turned around. Caroline was sitting on the ground, with a body at the feet. Her face was covered in blood. Jess swallowed hard and started forward.

"Caroline?" Caroline's head jerked up and she scrambled further away from Jess. The hose was on and she crawled through the shallow puddles of water. Some blood from her hands washed off, giving the water a red tint.

"No, no! NO! Don't come near me. I don't want to hurt you. He's dead… I killed him… Stay away from me!" Caroline yelled. Jess stopped walking, trying not to look at the body.

"Caroline, its okay..."

"No, no, it's not! Stay away from me!"

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I can help you." Damon spoke from behind Jess, walking over to them. Jess immediately put herself in between Damon and her sister.

"No, you need to stay away from us!" She told him, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"What are you gonna do?" Caroline asked in a whisper from behind Jess.

"The only thing I can do. I'm gonna kill you." He shoved Jess out of the way, hard and grabbed Caroline, showing her stake he had behind his back. Jess sat up from where she'd hit the asphalt.

"Please don't! I don't want to die!" Caroline screamed.

"You're already dead!" Damon growled.

"No, I'm not! Don't say that! Okay? Just help me."

"Okay…"

"Okay? Just help me, please, please, please." She begged.

"Okay, okay." Damon agreed. Jess watched as Damon pulled her into a hug, suspicious. When she saw, Damon raise the stake behind her back to stab her from behind, she let out a scream. Several things happened at once. The water from the hose exploded in flames. Bonnie sprinted over. Caroline jerked away from Damon and Stefan got in between them. Malia ran up with Elena, both they went separate ways. Malia went to punch Damon, knocking him to the ground, and Elena went over to Caroline.

"Get away from me, you killed me!" Caroline screamed Bonnie grabbed Jess's arm, pulling her to her feet again. Jess looked ready to kill Damon herself, her green eyes blazing.

"No, no, no, Caroline. That wasn't me. You know that! That was Katherine." Elena tried to explain.

"No! Then whey did she look like you?! And why… why did she do this to me?"

"Stefan, we've got to get her inside." Elena reminded him, glancing around at the scene. The water was still on fire and she looked over at bonnie. Bonnie caught her gaze, but the fire didn't go away.

"It's okay, Caroline, come with me." Stefan told her, gently taking her arm to lead her away.

"She'll die! It's only a matter of time!" Damon yelled.

"It's not going to happen." Malia stood in front of Damon as she spoke, pacing and stalking him like a tigress looking at it's next meal.

"Oh, yeah, it is!" Damon rushed forward and Malia tried to grab him. He tossed her aside and darted over to Caroline. Elena put herself in between them as fast as she could and he hesitated, stake raised. The fire burned hotter, the flames growing higher. He looked around and then back at Elena.

"Whatever happens, it's on you."

"Its okay, come on." Stefan told Caroline, pulling her away. Bonnie turned to Damon, glaring at him.

"I told you what would happen if anyone else got hurt." She held out her hand and he dropped to his knees, yelling.

"I didn't do this." He protested in a yell.

"Bonnie, it wasn't his fault!" Elena yelled. Malia grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the flames that were creeping towards Damon.

"Everything that happens is his fault!"

"Bonnie, what are you doing?" Elena asked in horror.

"Bonnie, stop it!" She screamed again as Damon started to burn. Jess looked between Bonnie and Damon in the same amount of horror and stumbled a few steps back. The fire disappeared and Bonnie slowly lowered her hand. Elena and Malia went over to Bonnie.

"Bonnie, this can't be us. It's not us." Elena told her quietly.

"The fire was a dramatic touch, though." Malia added, looking at the water.

"I didn't do that."

"What?" Elena asked, confused.

"I sent the fire towards Damon. I didn't start it and I didn't put it out." Bonnie looked over her shoulder at Jess, who was still looking horrified and terrified at the same time. She looked up at the girls staring at her, turned around and sprinted away.

* * *

Jess stepped into the house, turning around at once to look at Caroline. The blood was off her face, but she still looked horrible. Not that Jess was about to say that out loud. There was, however, something that had to be said.

"Come in." Caroline looked relieved as she stepped inside her own home. She shut the door behind her. When she turned back around, she saw Jess disappearing down the hallway.

"Jess? I… I know that you're scared of me… and… I know this sucks… in more than one way… but…" Caroline stuttered, not even sure where she was going with it, as she hurried down the hallway after her sister. When she got to Jess's doorway, she saw her sister lying on her bed.

"I'm scared of you. I'm scared of me." Jess told her in a whisper. Caroline took a deep breath, remembered what Stefan had told her about control and then hurried forward to pull Jess into a hug.

"We'll be fine. We always make it through." Jess nodded against her shoulder.

"I hope so..."


	33. May 9th, 1994

**A/N This is part one of 'Bad Moon Rising'. I hope you enjoy and remember that I love getting reviews.**

* * *

Alaric walked into the Salvatore Boarding House and went into the living room. Stefan, Damon and Elena were standing, waiting impatiently for him. Ava and Malia were lounging on the couch, but they put down their magazines when they saw him enter.

"Thanks for coming, Ric." Stefan told him.

"Can I get you something to drink? Coffee, bourbon? Bourbon in your coffee?" Damon suggested.

"Elena mentioned you needed my help." He asked Stefan, ignoring Damon.

"Yeah, we were hoping you could help shed some light on the Lockwood family."

"Now, why would I know anything about the Lockwood's?"

"Well, you wouldn't but your dead not dead vampire wife might." Damon said.

"Isobel's research from when you guys were at Duke together." Elena clarified.

"You said that she had spent years researching this town." Stefan added.

"Isobel's research here in Mystic Falls rooted in folklores and legends, but at the time I thought much of which was fiction."

"Like that amazing vampire story." Damon put in.

"Aside from vampires, what else did she research?" Malia asked, standing up from the couch and walking over to join the group.

"The lycanthrope."

"Wait, like werewolves?"

"No way, impossible, way too Lon Chaney." Damon protested.

"Is it?" Stefan questioned.

"I've been on this planet one hundred and sixty some odd years, never came across one. If werewolves exist, where are they?"

"Try the Mayor's house." Malia suggested, folding her arms over her chest.

"Why do you suspect the Lockwood's?"

"Because Vervain didn't affect the mayor at Founder's day but the Gilbert device did and it affected his son Tyler." Damon explained.

"And at the school carnival his uncle Mason exhibited inhuman behavior when he fought with one of the carnival's worker." Stefan added.

"We were hoping that Isobel's research could help us figure it all out." Elena explained. Alaric thought about it for a moment.

"Well, all her things are still at Duke. I mean her office is still there, she's technically still missing."

"So can we get access to it?" Damon asked. Alaric hesitated.

"Ric, we need to know what we are dealing with. If this wolf men thing is true, I've seen enough movies to know it's not good. It means Mason Lockwood is a real life Lon Chaney and that little Tyler punk may just very well be Lon Chaney junior which means Bella Lugosi, meaning me, is totally screwed."

* * *

Jess opened the front door of the Forbes house a tiny bit.

"Caroline? I'm going to open the door."

"I'm clear!" Jess opened the door and quickly slipped in, shutting and locking it behind her again. Caroline was sitting in the hallway, avoiding any and all sunlight. Jess went to sit beside her.

"How are you doing?" She asked softly.

"Miserable. You?"

"Still terrified of myself. But when I was out I bought cupcakes." She pulled a six-pack of pink frosted cupcakes out of the plastic bag beside her.

"Cupcakes make everything better." Caroline agreed as they each took one from the pack. Then she paused, examining the cupcake.

"Vampires can still enjoy food, right?" She asked, frowning.

"Yeah. It doesn't really sustain them, but they can enjoy the taste. You should see Malia around anything with salt…" Just as they were finishing off the package, there was a knock on the door.

"Matt." Caroline sighed. She looked at Jess.

"Just… get rid of him, please?" Then she crawled away, on her hands and knees to avoid the windows. Jess got up, hurried around the corner and saw from the window on the door that it was, indeed, Matt. She opened the door.

"Hey, Jess… Uh, Caroline said she was going to be here all day."

"Yeah, she did say that. She's kind of asleep right now. I think that the whole hospital thing took more out of her than she's willing to admit. Do you mind if I just give her a message or something when she wakes up? I don't want to wake her up right now."

"Oh, yeah, of course. Can you just tell her to call me when she gets a chance? Her phone is going straight to voicemail." _Only because you kept calling her and she had to turn her phone off,_ Jess thought, realizing just how horrible this whole situation was for everyone involved. But she forced a smile on her face and nodded.

"Of course."

"Thanks." He turned and hurried off the porch, shaking his head. Jess shut the door and watched as he got in his car and drove off. Then she turned around and went back into the hallway, picking up the empty plastic package from the floor.

"Caroline, he's gone!"

"I heard." Caroline moaned from her bedroom.

"Are you going to stay in there and mope?"

"Yes."

"What if I have a better idea?"

"Such as?"

"Causing general mischief in the name of helping your sister." Caroline's head poked out of her bedroom.

"What kind of mischief?"

"We're going to snoop."

"That's what I do best."

"I know. Come on. I'm finding my birth certificate."

* * *

"Elena, Malia? Are you coming?" Jenna called as she stood at the bottom of the stairs with Alaric. There was a muffled reply of 'yes' from Elena in her bedroom.

"Do what you need to do, okay?" Jenna asked Alaric. He nodded and walked out of the house to wait on the porch. Elena, Malia and Stefan hurried down the stairs. Elena had her backpack slung over her shoulder, but Malia carried nothing except her head high, as usual.

"Hey, are you okay?" Elena asked her aunt.

"Yeah, just… men and their baggage." She complained. Elena nodded understandingly.

"We'll be back soon."

"Alright." The trio hurried out to the car, where Damon was waiting more than a little impatiently.

"Sorry, you can't come too, Stef." Damon reminded him.

"Call me if you need anything." He told Elena.

"Oh, I'll take really good care of her." Damon promised. Elena grabbed Stefan and pulled him close to kiss him, shooting a look at Damon. He grimaced.

"Okay, time to go." He got into the car and Elena pulled away from Stefan to get in too. As Malia sat beside her in the backseat, she looked at her brunette twin.

"That was as disgusting for me as it was for Damon, f.y.i."

"When you get a boyfriend who has a psychopath for a brother, you'll understand."

"You know, oddly enough, I don't plan on going that route." As the drive continued, Damon looked over his shoulder at them.

"How are you doing back there? You know, this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly."

"I don't think they're pretending. You did kill their brother." Alaric reminded him.

"There is a huge asterisk next to that statement: he came back to life."

"Yeah, thanks to a ring you didn't know he was wearing." Elena snapped.

"Why are you so sure I didn't know?"

"Did you?"

"Yes."

"You're lying. As always." Malia growled.

"I saw the ring! It's a big tacky thing, it's hard to miss." Elena and Malia looked at him, then at each other and shook their heads, turning to look out the windows instead. Damon rolled his eyes but decided to shut up.

* * *

Caroline and Jess pulled the lockbox out from underneath Sheriff's Forbes bed, putting it down on the edge of the bed.

"Where does she keep the key?" Jess asked.

"On her." Caroline returned.

"But she has spare keys."

"I'll get them." Caroline offered. She darted off and returned a second later, holding a ring with more keys than Jess thought there were locks for in the house. Jess smiled at her sister's speed.

"Don't tell me that part about being a vampire isn't awesome." Caroline shrugged, handing over the keys. Jess tried a few different keys before she finally found the one that fit. She unlocked the box and opened it. All the paperwork they could imagine was stuff inside, with no particular order to them. The sister's started rooting through the papers together, working as quickly as they could.

"Hey, here's mine." Caroline pulled the certificate out and frowned.

"I hate my middle name."

"Here's mine!" Jess gasped in relief at finding it and then studied it, reading it silently to herself.

"Everything seems the same as what mom told you. Born at 11:01 p.m to… Whoa, that's different than what mom told you."

"Obviously." Jess returned in a whisper. Caroline read the full name.

"Jessica Paige… _Parker_?"

"Look, born in Portland, Oregon."

"Parker. Portland, Oregon… This is seems… Normal. But why would mom and dad go all the way to _Oregon_ to get you. I mean, you're awesome, but they couldn't have known that then." Caroline mused. Jess shoved the certificate back in the box, grabbed what Caroline had taken out and shoved it back in on top. Then she slammed the box shut, locked it again and shoved it under the bed as quickly as she could.

"What's the matter?"

"I just… I think I'm done finding out about my real family for now." There was a knock on the door and Caroline ran for her bedroom to pretend to be asleep. Jess got up and went to answer the door.

"False alarm, Caroline! It's just Stefan and Bonnie."

"Oh, _just us_. Don't look so happy." Bonnie said sarcastically.

"Sorry. That's not what I-."

"I know. Can we come in?"

"Oh, yeah! Of course." They went into Caroline's bedroom and she was waiting for them, sitting up on her bed. Bonnie quickly explained how she was going to make a daylight ring for Caroline.

"So, I don't get to choose the ring I have to wear the rest of my life?" Caroline asked, fingering the ring that Bonnie put in front of her.

"Hey, if you don't want it…"

"No, no, she wants it." Stefan said quickly.

"Now what?" Caroline asked.

"Now is the part where I explain the rules. The witch who spells the ring has the power to dispel it so if you ever do anything to hurt anyone…"

"I'm not gonna hurt anyone."

"You are a vampire that mean the urge to kill is a part of who you are. The minute you let it take over, I will stop you." Bonnie threatened.

"Bonnie, you're supposed to be my friend." Caroline whined."

"I can't ignore what happened okay? If you want to be friends, you have to prove that the Caroline I remember isn't gone. Now put the ring on the bed." Caroline put the ring down obediently.

"Do you really think I meant to kill that guy at the carnival?"

"He's still dead. Now, do you want me to cast the spell or not?" Bonnie opened the curtains just enough to cause some sunlight to reach the ring. Caroline crawled backwards, bumping into Jess as she avoided the sunlight. Bonnie closed her eyes for a moment but then opened them again.

"All done." She handed the ring to Caroline, who took the ring and put it on her finger.

"So that's it? I mean nothing witchy happened. You know, no flickering lights, no gust of wind. Have you even done this before?"

"Caroline…" Stefan started.

"I just want to make sure that worked." Bonnie ripped open the curtains. Caroline screamed, shielding her face, but nothing happened.

"It worked." Bonnie said simply.

"What if it hadn't, Bonnie?!" Bonnie just looked at Stefan.

"She's all yours." She gathered her things and walked out.

"Hey, Sheriff." She said on her way out, loud enough to serve as a warning for the other three. Jess and Caroline exchanged looks.

"I'm not going out there." Jess mumbled, thinking back to the birth certificate she'd found.

"Well, neither am I." Caroline shot back.

"Caroline, Jess?" Sheriff Forbes called out. Stefan looked between them.

"What's going on with you?" He asked Jess.

"I know at least one of you is home!" Sheriff Forbes added, coming down the hallway.

"I'm adopted and mad about it." Jess answered Stefan, who raised an eyebrow. Sheriff Forbes poked her head into the room.

"Girls, didn't you hear me calling?"

"Yes." They answered in unison. Sheriff Forbes's jaw clenched but then she changed the subject.

"I came home for my lunch break. I wanted to make sure you two were okay."

"We're fine."

"Hi, Stefan. If you're staying here, I expect this door to stay open." Sheriff Forbes told him. Stefan nodded in agreement. Sheriff Forbes walked out of the room and they heard her rummaging around in the kitchen. Caroline looked at Jess.

"Ask her."

"Ask her what?"

"You know what. Go." Caroline shoved Jess off the bed and the strawberry blonde rolled her eyes humorlessly. Then she made her way into the kitchen. Sheriff Forbes looked at her and smiled slightly.

"What's up?"

"Why did you go all the way to Portland to adopt me?"

"I thought we were done with these discussions." Sheriff Forbes sighed, leaning against the counter as if she was suddenly exhausted.

"Not by a long shot." Jess tried to keep her head high, to look confident and like she meant business. Malia could do it naturally and even Ava had a way of getting what she wanted. Jess was too neutral; she never fought for anything she wanted. This time was different.

"We were looking for a baby, alright? Your dad had a friend who was a detective working a case, though there was hardly anything mysterious about it and… he called us up and asked us to meet him halfway. He wanted the baby to have a good home."

"What case?" Jess demanded.

"You really want to know?" 

"Yes!" Jess cried, desperation creeping into her voice. Sheriff Forbes walked past her, leading her into the master bedroom. Jess stood in doorway as Sheriff Forbes grabbed a box from the top shelf of her closet.

"This is all we got from your biological family." Sheriff Forbes told her, throwing a few objects out onto the bed. Jess went to examine them. A baby blanket, a few stuffed animals. Then a newspaper article landed by her hand. She looked at the headline. **FAMILY MASSACRED IN PORTLAND.** The date was set for May 10th, but the story implied that it had happened the night before.

"That was your family. The oldest child of the family killed four other siblings, nearly killed a fifth and you and two other young children were the only ones that escaped unharmed. The murderer went missing; your parents kept the other two children and gave you away. I don't know why, but they did. That's your biological family. They're all dead, insane or heartless." Sheriff Forbes stopped, as if realizing she was really saying. Jess backed away from the bed, tearing her eyes away from the newspaper.

"Fine. Sorry I asked." She turned and ran into her bed, slamming the door behind her. In the next second, Caroline was pounding on the door.

"Jess! Jess, I heard what mom told you. Can I come in?"

"No." Jess returned, sitting against the door.

"Jess-." 

"I don't want to talk, alright?" Jess shot back, wiping at her eyes. There was a minute of silence.

"Jess, we're going to party tonight. Come with us; get your mind off of things." Stefan told her gently.

"I don't want to go to a party. I'll be fine; I just want to be alone."

"Are you sure?" Caroline asked.

"Positive." There was another pause.

"Okay. I'll be back soon, alright?" Caroline asked.

"Fine." She heard their retreating footsteps, Caroline argued with their mother for a short time and then the front door slammed behind them. Jess stayed sitting against the door, her face buried in her hands.


	34. Lycanthrope

**A/N This is the final part of 'Bad Moon Rising'. Enjoy!**

* * *

Alaric led Elena, Malia and Damon into Duke. Malia looked around at the large building and caught Elena's eye.

"And here we plan on going to Whitmore."

"I don't think we _can_ get into Duke." Elena reminded her.

"Please, I'm a genius. And I have this cool little thing where I make people do what I want." She reminded Elena. Elena shot her a look. Malia rolled her eyes and said nothing as Alaric began talking.

"So Isobel was officially employed by the anthropology department given that most paranormal phenomenon is rooted in folklore." He led them to an office and walked over to the woman sitting behind a desk.

"Excuse me, hi. I'm Alaric Saltzman, I called earlier."

"Yes, of course. I'm Vanessa Monroe, research assistant comparative folklore." She looked at Elena and frowned ever so slightly.

"Uh, let me just grab Isobel's keys." She started rooting through the desk in search of them.

"These are my friends Elena, Malia and Damon. I hope this isn't too much of an imposition."

"Oh please, Isobel's office is right through there. Isobel was one of my first professors. I'm a grad student, she was brilliant and one of the reasons I went into folklore. Uh… I have to ask, has there been any news?"

"No, I'm afraid not." He told her. Vanessa stood up from her desk, shaking her keys for emphasis.

"It's this way." She led them into Isobel's office, which was packed full of journals, papers and objects.

"I'll grab the light. Feel free to look around. It's fascinating, isn't it?" Vanessa left the room as the four of them started looking around. As the room remained somewhat dimly lit, Malia looked around for Vanessa.

"Where'd she go?" Just then, Vanessa reappeared in the doorway, holding a crossbow. She shot an arrow at Elena but Damon rushed in front of her, causing the arrow to sink into his back instead. Elena gasped as he fell to the floor and then looked up at Malia, who quickly disarmed Vanessa and pushed her against the wall. Alaric grabbed her, shoving her out of the room. Damon got up to lean against a table, trying to reach the arrow.

"Pull it out. I can't reach it, Elena." He growled. Elena hesitated, trying to get a good grip on the arrow's shaft.

"Just pull it out. It hurts." He insisted. Malia darted over and snapped the arrow in half. Then she grabbed the arrowhead from his back and he groaned in pain.

"She's dead." He turned to go after Vanessa but Elena blocked his path.

"You're not gonna kill her."

"Watch me."

"You touch her and I swear I will never speak to you again."

"What makes you think that has any power over me? Because I took an arrow in the back for you? You're severely overestimating yourself."

"Right. I forgot that I was speaking to a psychotic mind who snaps and kills people impulsively. Fine, go ahead, do whatever you want."

"You're trying to manipulate me." He accused.

"If by 'manipulate' you mean 'tell the truth'… okay, guilty." She turned and left the room with Malia following. Alaric had Vanessa sitting behind the desk again, talking to her.

"Please! I freaked out okay? Alright, you would have done the same thing, it's not possible! Katherine Pierce can't be alive and Damon Salvatore died in eighteen sixty four. Okay, I read Isobel's research."

"Well, then you should know just how possible this is."

"I'm Elena Gilbert, Isobel's daughter and a descendant of Katherine Pierce. And this is Damon Salvatore who you just shot." Elena explained as Malia went around the desk to stand behind Vanessa.

"I'd be extra nice to me right now."

"And I'm the sister of the girl you just tried to murder." She put her hands on Vanessa's shoulders and Vanessa let out a whimper. Alaric shot Malia a look. She rolled her eyes and released Vanessa. Elena turned back to her.

"Look, we need your help okay? We need to see all of Isobel's research, anything related to Mystic Falls."

* * *

"This box checks Katherine's arrival to Mystic Falls in April eighteen sixty four." Vanessa put a box in front of Elena and Malia. Damon and Alaric were across the room, going through other boxes.

"Is that all there is about her?" Malia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"All that I'm aware of." Vanessa answered quickly, looking afraid of Malia. Elena picked up a stalk of Vervain from the box and handed it to Vanessa.

"Here, take this." She whispered.

"Does Vervain really work?" Vanessa whispered back.

"Nope, not at all." Damon called from across the room.

"Can he hear us?"

"No, that would be creepy."

"Can he read minds too?"

"You know, if you want to see me naked, all you have to do is ask."

"No, that he can't do. He is very capable of being a first rate pain in the backside." Malia explained. Vanessa slipped the Vervain into her pocket. Malia and Elena started sorting through the box.

* * *

Caroline, Ava and Stefan walked down the side of the road, heading for the swimming hole for Tyler's party. Mason's truck passed them and Stefan watched it until it disappeared around a bend. Caroline and Ava exchanged looks and then looked Stefan again.

"Why are you looking at him with your serious vampire look?" Caroline asked.

"My what? My 'vampire serious look'?" Stefan asked.

"Which is slightly different from your worried vampire look, neither of which strays too far from your 'hey-it's-Tuesday' look." Ava explained.

"I get it, okay. You think I'm… you think I'm too serious. Is that it?" He asked, looking between the two girls.

"I mean I was not gonna say it like that but…" Caroline smiled at her own words and looked at Ava, who was trying not to laugh. They walked into the clearing near the swimming hole for the party. Immediately, Caroline spotted Matt with another girl and hurried over.

"Should we just let her-?"

"She's fine." Stefan interrupted Ava. They watched until Matt walked away from her and then they walked over.

"Hey, I saw that. You compelled her." Stefan told her.

"Yeah, she deserved it."

"Caroline, nobody deserves to have their mind messed with for shallow reasons."

"You know, why is everyone sticking up for Amy freaking Bradley?" Caroline demanded.

"You're letting the jealousy to get the best of you."

"Oh, so now I have magnified jealousy issues, too. That's great."

"I told you this wasn't gonna be easy."

"Yeah, well, I might as well have stayed dead. My entire personality is killing me." Caroline complained. Stefan smiled and she shot him a look.

"Shut up."

"Why don't we just forget about boys and go have fun?" Ava suggested, her excitement creeping into her voice. Caroline nodded in agreement.

"Let's go." She grabbed Ava's arm and led her away from Stefan.

* * *

Elena, Damon, Malia and Alaric were still sorting through the things in Isobel's office, but they had slowed down, getting bored already.

"Any luck?" Damon called.

"There's nothing in here about Katherine that we don't already know." Elena complained.

"Ah, man, you know, it's a bummer we're not friends anymore because I could tell you what I know."

"Now who's manipulating who?"

"Hey guys, check this out." Malia called over to them. She, Alaric and Vanessa were gathered around a book.

"There's no record of werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls, but here are some records of some of the lesser known legends. Everything from Scandinavian skin-walkers to the Maréchal de Retz." Vanessa explained. She studied one page in the book for a minute before she spoke again, talking in an ancient language.

"Which roughly translates into the 'curse of the sun and the moon'." She added.

"It's Native American?" Alaric guessed. Vanessa shook her head.

"Aztec. It explains one origin of the werewolf curse traced through Virginia. The short story: six hundred years ago, the Aztecs were plagued by werewolves and vampires. They terrorized the countryside, made farming and hunting impossible until an Aztec shaman cursed them, making vampires slaves to the sun and werewolves servants of the moon. As a result, vampires could only prowl at night and werewolves could only turn on a full moon. When the full moon crests in the sky, who's ever unlucky enough to fall under the werewolf curse turns into a wolf."

"Can they control the transformation?" Damon asked.

"If it were a choice, it wouldn't be called a curse. Werewolves will attack humans but instinct and centuries of rivalry have hardwired them to hunt their prey of choice: vampires."

"Well, if werewolves were hunting vampires, I would know about it." Damon told her.

"Not if there aren't that many werewolves left alive. Hundreds of years ago, vampires hunted them almost to extinction."

"Why would they do that?" Elena asked.

"To protect themselves. Legend has it that a werewolf bite is fatal to vampires."

* * *

After the sun set, everyone was leaving the swimming hole at Tyler's insistence. Caroline and Ava rejoined Stefan, but Caroline's eyes were on Matt, who was alone by his truck. She sighed.

"He's mad at me."

"Go talk to him. We'll wait." Stefan assured her. She looked between the two of them and smiled. She turned and hurried over to Matt. Stefan's phone rang and he answered it, seeing Elena's number on the screen.

"Hey." He greeted her. Ava leaned against a tree as he listened to what Elena was telling him. When he hung up, he looked at Ava.

"Where's Caroline?" They both looked around, but couldn't spot either Caroline or Matt. Stefan quickly called Caroline, but her phone rang from her bag in Matt's car. Stefan's jaw clenched.

"Stefan? What's going on? You're really freaking me out." Ava asked.

"It's a full moon tonight. I think we have a werewolf running around."

"So? Can't you handle it, Stefan? You know, kill it and put it's head on a spike or something?"

"A werewolves bite is fatal to vampires."

"Oh."

"Come on." He grabbed her arm and they hurried into the woods to look for Caroline and Matt.

* * *

Elena stared at a picture of Katherine and then looked up at Vanessa.

"Hey, have you done any research on doppelgangers?"

"Well, the word means a lot of different things to different cultures, but typically a doppelganger is a living, breathing double of oneself."

"Did Isobel have anything that explained the link between me and Katherine?"

"That's all she had on Katherine, unfortunately, but I can tell you that doppelgangers usually torment the people they look like, trying to undo their lives. It's not exactly uplifting.

"And more things we already know. Just... I want to know why we look alike."

"Head scratcher, isn't it?" Damon asked.

"Do you know something, or are you just being yourself?"

"Well, if I know anything, I'm not gonna tell you, not with that attitude."

"That's good, Damon, and this is coming from someone who wants to be my friend, but you know what? Friends don't manipulate friends, they help each other." Damon just looked at her for minute and then walked away. Malia looked at Elena.

"Are you really even considering him as a friend?"

"Not when he's acting like this."

"Not when he's acting like anything. He's not friend material." Malia scolded. Elena didn't say anything. Malia rolled her eyes and walked away as well.

* * *

Stefan and Ava were on the side of the road, looking around for Caroline and Matt. Ava stopped when Stefan held out a hand. Mason's car was on the side of the road and there was an animal growling inside.

"Stay here." Stefan whispered. Ava nodded and backed away, pressing her back against a tree. Stefan went over to the car and looked through the window. The glass shattered outwards, a wolf jumping out on top of him. It ran off as Stefan scrambled to his feet.

"That was a… that was a wolf." Ava sputtered, running over to him.

"That was a werewolf." He corrected, staring at the direction it had gone. Ava looked at him and then looked around again.

"Caroline?!" They picked up the pace, heading into the woods. Stefan was moving faster than Ava; she was sprinting trying to keep up. Her foot hit a tree root and she went down, hard. She pushed herself up on her elbows, looking around. Stefan was already long gone. A growl behind her made her spin around, crawling backwards until her back was against a tree. A wolf ran out of the shadows and stared at her. Her heart was pounding so hard it hurt and she considered screaming, but found that she couldn't. The wolf stared at her and then turned and ran off. She let out a breath. Scrambling to her feet, she kept moving, running as fast as she could while still avoiding tree branches, roots and the thick underbrush. She stopped when she found Matt in a clearing.

"Matt!" She ran over to him. There was blood pouring from a wound on his neck and she looked away, willing herself not to throw up. Matt sat up and looked at her.

"Caroline… her face…"

"You're fine. Get up." She ordered, grabbing his arm and helping him to his feet. They made their way back to the swimming hole in record time and she helped him lean against the side of the truck. She stripped off her denim jacket and handed it to him.

"Here, put pressure on it." Her voice had a strong, leader-like tone that surprised him. He obeyed, leaning over the hood of his truck. She looked around again, as if expecting the wolf to come back.

"Get in the truck." She ordered after a second. He looked at her.

"What?"

"In case the wolf comes back. Get in the truck." She yanked open the driver's side door, but stood in his way.

"Give me your keys." She held out her hand expectantly. He dug through his pockets and handed her the keys. She stepped out of his way and he got into the truck. She shut the door behind him and leaned against it, arms folded across her chest. Having given up her jacket, she was freezing in just her tank top. Thankfully, Stefan and Caroline ran over to them within minutes.

"Are you guys okay?" She demanded, straightening up.

"Fine. Is Matt okay?" Caroline asked.

"Uh… do you want the honest answer?" Ava asked. Caroline opened the truck door and pulled Matt out to compel him.

"You're not going to remember what I did to you or what you saw me become."

"We were just making out in the woods." He agreed in a monotone voice.

"And then an animal attacked you and bit your neck."

"It's weird; it just came out of nowhere." She nodded and looked back at Stefan and Ava. Stefan gave her a reassuring nod. Ava handed Matt his keys.

"Keep pressure on that, alright?" She motioned to his neck. He nodded in agreement, got into his truck and drove off.

"What are we gonna do about Tyler?" Caroline asked.

"I took care of it and I will get Matt on Vervain, it'll keep you from being able to compel him and also to keep you from drinking his blood."

"I can't believe I hurt him." Caroline shook her head.

"I know."

"He is the one person on this entire planet that I never wanted to hurt." She continued.

"It's not going to get any easier. You're just gonna have to work that much harder."

"I shouldn't be with him, should I? Because if there is any danger…"

"I'm the last person to make that kind of decision for you. If I had followed my own advice, I would've walked away from Elena a long time ago."

"You ever think you should have?"

"I know I should have, I just can't." Caroline nodded and started walking down the road. They hadn't taken a car to the swimming hole, so that meant that they were walking home. Stefan and Ava followed her at a distance. After a minute, Stefan looked over at Ava.

"You did good, you know."

"I have no clue what I was doing." She admitted, laughing nervously. He slung an arm around her shoulder and she leaned into him.

"I just want to go home."

"Me too. Let's go." They picked up the pace to walk alongside Caroline, none of them talking.


	35. Dances with Wolves

**A/N This is the full episode of 'Memory Lane'.**

 **Sorry I haven't written in a while. I got out of tune with the characters so this chapter might be a bit off. Hopefully the next chapter will be better.**

 **Thank you in advance for reading and, as always, reviews are appreciated.**

* * *

"Thanks for letting me invite Caroline. She could use a day of distraction." Elena was saying to Jenna as they prepared for the barbeque. Malia was perched on the counter behind them, sipping on a can of coke.

"Well, she's not the plus one I'm worried about. Why is Damon coming?" Jenna asked.

"Because Alaric is a pity taker... Come on, Jenna, be nice." Elena pleaded.

"I'll be nice when Damon learns to keep his paws off you."

"I second that." Malia put in, raising her coke can in a toast. Mason walked into the room.

"Good news! I found the shot glasses!"

"That would be my exit." Elena walked out of the room. Malia was just slipping off the counter when he phone rang. She hurried out of the room, trying to ignore Jenna talking to Mason about their days under the bleachers at pep rallies. She answered her phone as she headed up the stairs.

"Ava?"

" _Hey. Uh, can I come over?_ "

"Sure. What's going on?" Malia kicked her door shut with her foot and sat down at her desk.

" _Stefan is getting information out Katherine in a… less than humane way._ " 

"Katherine isn't human." Malia reminded her, not bothering to ask questions about how it was going.

" _Still… I don't like staying here while it's going on right below me in the cellar._ "

"Then come over."

" _Thanks_." Ava hung up and Malia put her phone down on the desk. Caroline burst into the room, carrying a bag of chips.

"Do vampires get fat? I can't stop eating!" She moaned, sitting down on the bed and shoving more chips in her mouth.

"Good morning to you to." Malia said sarcastically.

"Stefan says it's a great way to sublimate the cravings. It's horrible just fighting the urge for blood every minute of every day." Caroline continued. She paused, looking up.

"How come you're not always eating?"

"To be fair, I was blood thirsty before I was a vampire. I just learned to control my temper and deal with it."

"How?"

"Patience, young grasshopper, it will all become clear in time." Malia told her with a smirk, propping her feet up on the top of her desk. Caroline shot her a look but said nothing. Alaric poked his head into the room.

"Hey! Food's ready, come get it." Caroline jumped to her feet.

"Finally, I'm starving."

* * *

"Dress! Ballerina!"

"Puppy, puppy with a tutu!"

"A dog! Hound-dog!" Malia had been in chaotic situations before, but playing Pictionary with a group of supernatural creatures and a human that didn't know about supernatural creatures… That was a new one. Damon shook his head at them, tapping the dry erase board with his marker insistently. Mason rolled his eyes.

"Dances with Wolves."

"Mason wins… again." Damon announced unhappily.

"How is that a wolf?" Malia questioned. Jenna laughed and Damon shot her a nasty look. She smirked. Elena was in the kitchen, taking a pie from a box. Damon had brought it, which was suspicious, and he went to help her. Malia stood up from her seat.

"Anyone want another soda? Perhaps some coffee to sober you up, Aunt Jenna?" She questioned.

"I'm fine." Jenna insisted.

"Yeah, sure." Malia told her, rolling her eyes. She went into the kitchen.

"Aunt Jenna is getting tipsy." Damon said, smiling.

"Will you stop plying her with alcohol?" Elena snapped.

"I want her to like me."

"Impossible. How is operation Lockwood?" Malia asked, digging around in the fridge for another soda.

"He's my new BFF." Damon announced. Jenna walked into the kitchen.

"There you are. Isn't this fun?"

"Yes, thank you so much for inviting me." Damon told her.

"Did I have a choice?"

"I know what you must think about me."

"No, you don't. You've never dated you; I have dated many… you's." Jenna explained. Malia handed her a can of soda.

"I'm a work in progress." Damon assured her. Elena handed her a cake knife from a drawer. Damon stared at it.

"These are fancy."

"Thanks. My mother's silver set." The word 'silver' made Damon's eyes widen just a bit. He slipped a knife from the set as Elena and Jenna went into the dining room. Malia grabbed his wrist is a death grip.

"Not here."

"Why not?"

"Jenna isn't involved in this. Don't go stabbing people to see if it'll actually kill them." She growled. There was a knock on the front door.

"Who's that?" Damon asked suspiciously.

"Ava. You know, she's family. Can't you at least play nice around her?"

"I haven't killed her yet. How nice do you want me to be?" Damon demanded. Malia growled at him, sounding extremely feral, and then hurried go let Ava inside. She appeared in the kitchen a second later, looking unnerved by the amount of people in the Gilbert house.

"Hey, little niece." He greeted her quietly enough that no one else heard.

"Stefan and Katherine are at the boarding house." She reported. He narrowed his eyes, grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her aside.

"What are they doing?"

"Stefan has her in the cellar. With Vervain. Getting information." She talked fast, trying to get her wrist free of Damon's grip. Malia walked over to them and punched Damon in the face. He stumbled back, releasing Ava.

"Not. Here." She growled. Then she stopped, looking between Ava and Damon.

"Not anywhere, for that matter. Come on, you're just in time for pie." Malia pulled Ava away, going into the dining room. Damon grimaced at the hard hit and followed.

"Mason, why don't you start us off?" He put the silver cake knife on the table next to the pie.

"Sure." Mason agreed. He grabbed a piece with his hands, not the knife.

"I apologize, I'm an animal." He explained, staring hard at Damon.

"So Mason, you and Jenna never dated?" Alaric asked as everyone else was quickly served a piece of pie.

"She was always lost in Logan Fell land." Mason explained.

"My first mistake. Mason was a catch; he had girls lining up." Jenna admitted.

"Really? I always pegged you for a lone wolf." Damon put in. Under the table, Ava kicked him, hard.

"I'm sure I wasn't half the lady killer you were. How about a toast? To new friends." They all toasted with their glasses and soda cans.

* * *

Damon tossed the silver cake knife into the sink, looking angry. Malia shot him a look as she ran water for the dishes.

"Don't take it out on my grandmother's knife set."

"He knows what I'm getting at, he just doesn't play along." Damon complained.

"Poor you. Move." She ordered, pushing him away from the sink. Mason walked in and they both turned to look at him.

"Jenna just brought out 'Guitar Hero'." Mason reported.

"Well, I just happen to like 'Guitar Hero'. So you, my friend, are barking up the wrong tree." Damon returned.

"Okay. Enough with the innuendos, you win, you're hilarious." Mason snapped. Malia turned off the water and looked between them, wondering if she was going to have to get involved in a fist fight.

"Thank you." Damon told him.

"Come on, man. You don't think I know what this barbecue is about?"

"How do you know about me? Your brother was completely clueless."

"It doesn't matter; I'm not your enemy, Damon."

"You tried to kill my brother." Damon growled at him.

"That was a mistake."

"Really?"

"There was confusion; I couldn't chain myself up in time. I have no control once I shift." Mason explained.

"What, no obedience school?"

"I'm serious. Let's not spark some age old feud that doesn't apply to us."

"You expect me to believe that you are in Mystic Falls planting peach trees?"

"I lost my brother, my nephew lost his father. I'm here for my family. Let's be above this." Mason offered his hand to shake. Damon hesitated and then shook his hand. Mason left the room.

"Well, that was easy. Which means you're not done yet, are you?" Malia asked.

"You know me so well, Gilbert Barbie. Which reminds me… How come you haven't taken a silver knife to him yet? Little miss violence?"

"Is that the best you got?" She asked, snickering.

"You didn't answer."

"If Jenna wasn't here and I didn't have to worry about you killing your own niece, I would love to sit Mason down and make him give up everything he knows about everything supernatural and then compel him to leave town myself. But that's not how it worked out. So behave yourself, before I have to finish something you start."

* * *

Ava sat curled up on one of the chairs in the living room as Jenna put away 'Guitar Hero'. Jenna glanced at her as she stood up again.

"What's up with you? Normally you beat all of us at that game."

"I wasn't in the mood."

"I got that. What's up?" Jenna sat down on the arm of the chair.

"Nothing." Ava lied. Then, giving her a smile, she got up and went into the kitchen where Malia was waiting.

"No more takers for drinks at the grill? It's like I am with a bunch of adults here." Mason complained.

"I prefer the term 'role model'." Jenna corrected.

"Okay. Well, thanks for having me, it was awesome. Alaric, catch that game next week?"

"Yeah, I look forward to it."

"You know, I should probably head out too." Damon put in as Mason left the house.

"Jenna, you are a wonderful hostess." He kissed the back of her hand.

"And you are a terrible artist."

"Is that the only thing that makes me terrible?"

"I'm still deciding."

"Good enough for me. Alaric, let's not catch that game next week." He left the house and Malia hurried after him, throwing aside a dish towel she had dried her hands on. Jenna looked at Alaric and Ava.

"Where are they going? And where did Caroline and Elena run off to?"

* * *

Malia ran over to Damon and Mason as they stood on the sidewalk.

"Damon? What? More dog jokes?" Mason demanded.

"Nah, those got old." He stabbed Mason with the silver knife. Malia looked around to make sure there were no witnesses. Luckily, there appeared to be no one around. Mason calmly removed the knife from his chest.

"You know, I think it was werewolves who started this whole silver myth. Probably for moments like this." Damon just stared at him.

"Dully noted."

"I was really looking forward to last call. Now you made an enemy." He threw the silver knife and Damon darted out of the way. It hit Malia in the chest instead and she stumbled back.

"Ow." She complained, pulling it out. Veins appeared under her eyes and she jumped at Mason, landing a punch that knocked him off the curb. A car hit him and sent him flying backwards. Inside the car, Jess slammed on the brakes and jumped out.

"What the heck is going on?" She cried, starting over towards Mason. Malia grabbed her shoulder to stop her.

"You just hit a werewolf. Surprise." She said tonelessly. Jess stared at her. Damon walked over to Mason, who was already on his feet again.

"So you heal, huh? How fast?" Damon mused. Mason just chuckled and brushed himself off.

"Go ahead, Damon. Threaten and joke all you want. But just know, one bite is all it takes."

"But you're not a wolf right now." Damon reminded him. Mason nodded.

"Just wait." He went and got into his car, driving off. Jess looked at Malia again.

"What just happened?"

"Damon decided to play tough guy _right outside my house_." Malia growled. Damon shrugged it off.

"I'm a thrill seeker. Oh, here you go." He handed her the bloody knife that was on the ground.

"Might want to wash it." He walked off, smirking. Malia looked at Jess.

"What brings you to our twisted neighborhood?"

"I was looking for Caroline."

"She and Elena took off." Malia explained. Jess chewed on her lip.

"What?" Malia asked, not sure if she even wanted to know about any more drama. Jess heaved a sigh.

"Caroline's being acting strangely and… and I think Katherine got to her."


	36. Don't Drink the Lemonade

**A/N This is the full episode of 'Kill or be Killed'.**

 **I'm still trying to fit the three girls in each chapter and I don't think this flows very well and it's a bit choppy, but I hope you guys like it anyway.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think!**

* * *

Elena, Malia and Jeremy were all squeezed in the bathroom, trying to get ready for school. Jeremy brushed his teeth while Elena combed out her hair and Malia tied her own hair into a ponytail.

"I can't believe Tyler Lockwood is a werewolf." Jeremy was saying.

"We're not sure about that yet." Elena protested.

"If it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it's a freaking duck." Malia put in.

"The only thing we know for sure is that Mason Lockwood is." Elena said firmly.

"It should be enough easy for us to figure it out." Jeremy mused.

"There is no 'us'. I said that I wouldn't keep things from you anymore. That doesn't mean that I want you involved in it." Elena explained.

"By definition of being in this family, I'm involved."

"This is dangerous, Jeremy. You have to stay out of it, okay?"

"So I'm going to give you all the details before telling you not to do anything about this life or death situation." Malia mocked.

"Not helping." Elena snapped.

"Not trying to." Malia returned. Jeremy laughed and went into his bedroom. Ignoring Elena's look, Malia followed.

"I can't believe Elena." Jeremy complained.

"She's trying to be the kind of big sister that protects us."

"It's annoying."

"Oh, completely. But-." She slapped her hand against the door so that he couldn't open it to get out.

"You are going to do your absolute best to stay out of this, alright?" She asked, giving him a smile. He tried to pull the door open. She leaned her weight against it. He gave up.

"Fine, alright?!" He demanded.

"Good boy. Watch the tone. Respect your elders." She opened the door and waved him out before hurrying back into the bathroom to grab her bag. She paused by the door to Elena's room, listening.

"I hate fighting with you, even if it's fake."

"I know but if Katherine thinks that we are fighting, then she will think that she's winning and it keeps her from following through with her threats…"

"Yeah. But it doesn't make it any easier. Neither does knowing that Caroline will be there, reporting everything back to her."

"Hey, everything's gonna be okay. Yes, we have to keep up this ruse for a little while but the best way to keep Katherine from hurting anybody, from hurting you."

"Just promise me that she won't get her way with us. We can fake a fight, we can pretend that her threats are tearing us apart but none of it is real, okay?"

"Okay, how about this? Today, when we're fighting, if I say 'I can't do this anymore, Elena', what I'll really mean is that I love you."

"And when I say, 'Fine, Stefan, whatever', well that means I love you too." Malia heard them kissing and grimaced at the sound, turning and heading down the stairs.

* * *

Caroline tugged the covers off of Jess, who simply groaned in response.

"Hey, are you getting up or not?"

"Can I say no?"

"No. Come on." Caroline tugged Jess into a sitting position.

"Don't mope just because your biological family happened to be murdered by your biological physco brother."

"That's an excellent reason to mope, Caroline."

"Yeah, well, stop it." She said sternly, pulling Jess out of bed. Once she was upright, Caroline left the room, going into the kitchen instead. She stopped, staring when she saw Liz there.

"Are you off today?"

"The historical society volunteer picnic is today. You're the one who signed me up."

"I know. I just assumed you'd bail."

"No. I'm gonna spend the whole day with my daughters."

"You're gonna pretend to be a mother?" Caroline scoffed, unable to help herself. She shook her head and headed for the fridge to get a can of soda. Caffeine and junk food helped with the cravings, so she was intent on getting as much caffeine into her body as possible before spending the day around a large group of humans.

"I'll bring my gun if it gets rough. Come on, give me one day. I've been buried in work mode, I've barely seen you."

"Well, be warned, I'm in a mood and Jess is moping."

"Goody for me. What was Elena doing here so late last night?" Liz questioned. Jess came into the kitchen, barefoot but dressed in shorts and a t-shirt.

"Elena wasn't-." She started, confused. Caroline interrupted her.

"Elena was here. She just needed to talk. Her and Stefan are going through a rough patch."

"Is everything okay with you guys?"

"I'm fine."

"It's just lately you seem different."

"I'm not different, I'm fine."

"I know you think I don't notice these things but I do. What's going on with you?"

"You know there's pretending to be a mother and then there's reality. Let's not push our luck, okay?" Caroline hurried out of the kitchen. Liz looked at Jess, who just rolled her eyes and went after her.

* * *

"This is all part of the historical society, continuing efforts to give back to the community. Thanks to the generous donation of the Fell family. We are now standing on the sight of our newest public park. Thank you to everyone who has shown up today to lend a helping hand. Thanks." Carol Lockwood stood on a pedestal, as usual, giving a speech that had been prepared for weeks. Stefan spotted Mason and headed towards him. Ava looked around and hurried after him.

"What are you doing?" She asked in a whisper.

"I'm going to talk to him." Ava stayed close to him as they joined Mason, who looked up in slight surprise.

"Stefan, right? The other Salvatore. And… you." Mason looked at Ava, obviously forgot her name, and turned back to Stefan.

"The nice one. The one offering an apology." Stefan explained.

"Not interested."

"Look, my brother acted impulsively."

"You think?"

"If you and Damon keep at each other throats, somebody innocent is going to get hurt and I don't want that. You have family here so I can imagine you'd want that either. So what do you say we just quit the whole alpha male fighting thing and call a truce?"

"I made that same offer to your brother. He turned it down with a knife."

"Damon doesn't take truces from people he doesn't like. He happens to not completely hate us." Ava put in.

"And what if I say no? Gonna try to stab me with a silver knife again, bite my ankles?" He teased her. Ava folded her arms across her chest, frowning but not replying either. Mason shook his head.

"Tell your brother to watch his back."

"Not my brother." She said quickly. He looked at her.

"You're not a vampire." He laughed, as if that was the funniest thing in the world. He purposely bumped into her shoulder as he past, nearly knocking her over. In an instant, Stefan had Mason's arm in a death grip.

"Well, I'm guessing that we only have to worry about you during a full moon. Otherwise you're not as strong, am I right? Or you would have killed Damon by now. There's one of you. There are two of us. I think you're the one that needs to watch his back."

"If he comes at me…"

"He won't." They shook hands rather stiffly and Mason left in a hurry. Ava rubbed her shoulder.

"You alright?"

"I'm human. I'm used to it." She said, surprisingly bitter about the whole thing. Damon walked over to them.

"What are you doing?"

"Negotiating peace on your behalf." Stefan explained.

"I don't want peace."

"Consider it opposite day."

"Stefan, please tell me you don't seriously think a hand shake just solved our problem."

"No, actually I think that the first chance Mason Lockwood gets, he's gonna drive a stake through your heart and then through mine, all because you took it upon yourself to try to kill him. So thank you, because we don't have enough problems." Stefan hurried away, shaking his head. Damon glared at his back.

"So how does one go about killing a werewolf?" He asked, looking over at Ava. She scoffed at him.

"Since when am I Buffy? Go ask Giles." He raised an eyebrow.

"Alaric." She clarified, walking away. He followed her, slinging an arm around her shoulders. She drove her elbow into his side and he let his arm drop.

"You've changed, little niece. You were much more fun to mess with before." He complained.

"Oh, I remember the throat-grabbing and wrist-breaking. Glad you had fun with me. Now stay away from me." With that, she picked up the pace, disappearing into the crowd of volunteers.

* * *

Malia glanced around, wishing that Jenna hadn't signed her up for the volunteer work. Damon and Stefan were arguing, as always. Caroline and Elena were whispering to each other, probably about Damon and Stefan. Ava had busied herself with the clean-up around the trees and Jeremy had somehow managed to escape working today.

"Would you like some lemonade?" Malia turned to the little girl manning the lemonade table.

"Thank you." She took three cups and hurried over to Stefan and Damon.

"Here, put this in your mouth and maybe words will stop coming out of it." She handed a cup to Damon and then a second one to Stefan.

"You're such a sweetheart." Damon said sarcastically, raising his cup in a cheer. She rolled her eyes as they took a drink. Immediately, they spit it back out, coughing and sputtering.

"What's wrong?" Stefan demanded, wisely putting his cup down.

"Vervain." Stefan pulled Damon and Malia over to the side of the tent and they sat down. Stefan left and returned a second later with water for both of them. Malia coughed up blood and then drained the cup of water, looking ready to snap someone's neck, or possible her own.

"I thought the rule was don't drink the Kool-Aid, not don't drink the lemonade!" She complained, coughing again.

"I'm gonna kill him." Damon growled.

"Listen to me-."

"I'm not listening anymore of your 'give peace a chance' crap. He's dead!"

"Okay. I don't like it. He's making threats. He could expose us. We need to put him down." Stefan agreed reluctantly. He looked over at Malia, who was wiping blood away from her mouth.

"Let's go see what exactly kills a werewolf."

"Alright. Let's do it." Damon spotted Mason going into the woods.

"Woods. Trash duty. Come on." The trio got to their feet, Damon and Malia looking slightly unsteady at first, and hurried after him. It wasn't hard to catch up with Mason; he was walking a slow human pace. As the trio surrounded him, he looked around. Damon smirked.

"Don't look so surprised. You knew this was inevitable. Go ahead, run, I'll give you a head start." Damon offered. Mason knelt down and they watched, confused. Then gunshots rang out. Pain erupted in Malia's chest and she hit the ground, her legs giving out beneath her.

* * *

Caroline made her way into the woods, with Elena and Jess following close behind. Caroline swatted away a bug and then stopped, listening.

"Where are you going? What's going on?" Elena asked.

"I need to be able to hear better." She explained.

"Hear what?" Jess questioned.

"Something's wrong."

"Caroline-." She shushed them, trying to listen in on something. Then, suddenly, her head snapped up.

"Oh my gosh."

"What is it?" Jess and Elena demanded.

"Stefan, Malia… Damon. Come on."

* * *

Malia found herself on the floor of some cellar, weakly looking around.

"Thank you, Mason." An all too familiar voice spoke from nearby. A needle was shoved into her arm and Vervain coursed through her veins. She let out a weak whimper, squeezing her eyes shut again.

"You're gonna kill them, right?" Mason asked.

"Yes. That's why you should go. Here it's the council, not the law. You can't be a party to this. It's for your own protection."

"Liz, I don't care about-."

"I do and I'm not asking. Goodbye, Mason."

"Don't take any chances."

* * *

Caroline stopped, stooping down to look at one of the plants.

"What is it?" Elena asked impatiently.

"They've been here." She stared at the blood that had splattered onto the leaves of the plant and then stood up again.

"What are you three doing out here?" The trio of girls whirled around to face Mason. Jess backed up to stand beside Caroline.

"Have you seen my sister?" Elena asked, trying to sound calm.

"Yeah, Elena, I've seen her. Seen Stefan and Damon too."

"Where are they?"

"You don't need me for that. I'll let your friend here sniff them out." He motioned to Caroline, who stiffened.

"Does your mother know what you are? I'm happy to tell her." Caroline started towards him, but he grabbed Elena, whirling her around and strangling her from behind.

"Don't be stupid! Necks snap easy around here."

"I can take you."

"Wanna bet?"

"Yeah. I do." She blurred over to him, grabbed him and pushed him against a tree. Elena stumbled away, catching herself on Jess's arm as they backed up, letting Caroline deal with Mason.

"I told you." Caroline said smugly. She licked him in the leg, threw him to the ground and then kicked him in the stomach. He flew against a tree and then hit the ground again. Caroline brushed her hair out of her face.

"Come on." She grabbed Jess's wrist and the three of them hurried away.

* * *

"This is how it's gonna work. Answer me and you don't get shot, understand? How many of you are there?" Liz questioned, gun pointed at Damon.

"Liz, please…." She shot him in the leg and he screamed. Stefan was unconscious beside him and on the other side of him Malia was barely conscious, her eyes squeezed shut.

"How did you fool us? How do you walk in the sun?" Damon didn't answer. She turned her gun on Malia and shot her in the leg. Malia let out a shriek, her hands balling into fists.

"I will drag this out painfully." Liz threatened.

"But you're my friend."

"Our friendship was a lie. Answer me and I'll kill you fast."

* * *

Elena, Caroline and Jess stopped at the top of the stairs to the ruins. Caroline listened in, her arm up to stop Caroline and Jess.

"What is it?"

"My mom... She's killing them."

"What?! We have to stop her!" Elena and Jess rushed into the cellar.

"No, I can't. She's gonna find out about me!" Caroline yelled after them. Elena and Jess felt their way down into the cellar. Elena stooped down to grab a wooden plank as they crept forward.

"Let's do this. Each with a stake in the heart, then burn all three of them." Liz was saying. Jess clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle her whimper as they picked up speed. One of the deputies rounded the corner and Elena smacked him in the head with the plank, knocking him out. They ran into the next room.

"Jess, Elena! What are you doing?" Liz cried.

"You can't kill them. I'm not gonna let you!" The girls ran to the three bloody vampires, trying to shield them from the deputies. The door slammed shut and everyone turned towards it.

"What was that?"

"Who else is with you?" One of the deputies was yanked back into the shadows, his scream cut short. Another one flew against the wall. Caroline stepped out so that her mom could see her, blood dripping off her chin.

"Hi, mom."

* * *

Malia pushed aside the body of the deputy, wiping excess blood off her mouth. Elena was sitting with Stefan while Damon walked around, trying to shake off the effects of the Vervain.

"You need to drink some deputy blood." Damon finally told his brother.

"No. I'm gonna be fine. It's just gonna take a little bit longer."

"Damon's right you know. If there's ever time to break your diet-." Caroline started.

"He said he didn't want it, okay?" Elena snapped at her. Caroline gave up and turned to Jess, whispering with her as their mother cowered in the corner, too scared to move.

"This is a most unfortunate situation. Two deputies dead and you…" Damon stepped closer to Liz.

"What am I gonna do with you?"

"You won't tell anyone, will you? Mom? Mom? Please. Look, I know that we don't get along and that you hate me but I'm your daughter and you'll do this for me, right? Mom, please. He will kill you." Caroline pleaded.

"Then kill me."

"No!" Caroline and Jess rushed forward.

"I can't take this. Kill me now."

"But you were gonna drag it out so painfully." Damon caught her by the shoulders, pinning her against the wall.

"No, no, no!" Caroline was sobbing now, holding Jess back from trying to take on Damon herself. Malia appeared at his side, grabbing his arm.

"Damon, don't!"

"Damon, please!" Elena added.

"Relax, guys, no one is killing anyone." He explained. He looked back at Liz.

"You're my friend." He assured her. He looked around at the bodies.

"We've got to clean this up."

* * *

Caroline threw clothes and books into one of Liz's suitcases, running around the room in a blur as she collected everything. Jess stood in the doorway, watching. Finally, Caroline stopped and leaned over the suitcase to zip it up.

"I think this should be good. We can always get her some more stuff if she needs them." Caroline mused. Then she sighed and sat down on the bed. Jess went and joined her, leaning against Caroline's shoulder.

"I really thought Damon was going to kill her." Caroline whispered.

"I'm just glad my 'thing' didn't act up."

"You're what?"

"My magic." Jess explained in a mumble, like it was a bad word.

"Oh, right. Like at the carnival. Have you talked to Bonnie or-?"

"No, no… She has enough on her mind and it's not like my magic acts up very often… Just the once…" Jess explained, shrugging her shoulders.

"At least mom doesn't know about you yet."

"She won't. Only the people that saw what I did at the carnival need to know." Jess told her hurriedly, running a hand through her strawberry blonde curls. Caroline squeezed her hand and nodded in agreement.

"Alright. Let's get this to mom."

* * *

Caroline pushed open the door to the Salvatore boarding house and walked in, leaving the door open for Jess. Elena and Malia met them in the opening room. Caroline held up the suitcase.

"Hey, sorry that took forever. I just didn't know how long my mom was gonna be here."

"It'll take three days' tops for the Vervain to leave her system. Maybe even sooner, depends on how much she takes and how often." Malia explained, sounding oddly like a teacher. Stefan walked over to them.

"Hey! You get some bunny in you?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah, I'm feeling much better, thank you."

"Good. Uh… Where's mom?" Jess asked, wringing her hands. Stefan motioned towards the cellar. The two girls hesitantly started down, suitcase in hand. Stefan turned to Elena and Malia.

"I've got to go pick up Ava from the park, so…"

"I'll get my sis home. You're not the only one looking out for her." Malia told him, rolling her eyes. He smiled and nodded, walking out of the boarding house. Malia turned to her twin.

"Nice fake fight there at the park."

"You saw that?"

"Everyone saw that."

"How did you know it was fake?"

"I heard you and Stefan in the bedroom. Honestly, you should invest in a locking window. Having vampires come into your room uninvited… not as romantic as it is creepy, despite what Bella Swan might say."

* * *

Caroline and Jess paused near the doorway to the cell, waiting and listening.

"Thank you. It's not exactly the Ritz, but it's secure. Brought you a good thread count. And once the Vervain is worked out of your system, I will compel you, you will forget everything and you will be a free woman." Damon was explaining.

"Can you keep Caroline far away from me please? I don't want to see her."

"She's your daughter, Liz."

"Not anymore. My daughter's gone."

"You have no idea how wrong you are about that." Damon glanced over at Jess and Caroline. Caroline turned and hurried up the stairs, passing off the suitcase to Jess. Jess walked into the room and tossed the suitcase onto the cot next to Liz without a word. Then, turning on her heel, she hurried after Caroline. Damon hurried after her, catching her arm before she could get out of the cellar.

"Let go off me!" She tried to yank her arm out of his grip, but he held on tight.

"I'm sorry. This is because of Mason, he told her everything." Jess stopped and looked at him.

"Did… Did you just apologize for something?"

"Don't expect it to happen again." He released her arm and walked away.


	37. Moonstone

**A/N This is part one of 'Plan B'. Please read and review!**

* * *

Damon opened the door to the Salvatore Boarding house in reply to a knock and saw Jeremy. He rolled his eyes.

"I need to talk to you." Jeremy explained.

"And why do I need to talk to you?" Damon started to close the door on him, but Jeremy pushed it back open.

"Tyler Lockwood has to kill someone to activate his curse. He's not a werewolf yet."

"Wow, fascinating. Not enough." Damon tried to close the door again. This time, a hand caught it, narrowly avoiding being smashed by the door. He looked at Ava in annoyance.

"What's going on?"

"Little Gilbert is trying to be helpful. Not doing enough." Ava pushed open the door and Jeremy walked in. She shut the door behind them.

"But Mason Lockwood is and he's looking for a moonstone, a special rock connected to the werewolf legend. That's why he's here." Jeremy continued. The three of them headed into the living room.

"A moonstone?" Ava asked.

"And I know where it is."

"And you're bringing me this why?" Damon asked.

"Do I need a reason? Look, I just want to help, okay?"

"What's your sister say about this little discovery?" Jeremy didn't answer and Damon laughed.

"Oh, you haven't told her, have you?"

"Well, Elena doesn't want me getting involved in all this."

"And you're a Gilbert and you just can't help yourself. Wow. Your search for life's purpose is as obvious as it is tragic."

"Stop it." Ava protested. Damon held up his hands in mock surrender and looked back at Jeremy, motioning for him to go on. He explained all her knew about Tyler and the moonstone as they sat in the living room.

* * *

Jess and Caroline edged into the room in the Boarding house cellar. Liz sat up from her cot, looking at Caroline wearily. Caroline stopped, looking at Jess. Jess went to take Liz's only half-empty tray of food.

"You didn't eat much." She noted. Liz didn't answer. Caroline took a step forward.

"Good news: Doctor Damon said the Vervain is almost out of your system. So with any luck, you'll be freshly compelled and back in your own bed by tonight." Liz didn't answer or even look at Caroline.

"Mom?" Jess questioned. Still nothing.

"Are you really just gonna pretend like I don't exist?" Caroline asked, annoyed and hurt at the same time.

"Yes. So please, go." Jess grabbed the tray and started to walk out of the room. Caroline shook her head.

"As usual, you don't care. Got it… Just like before I was a vampire. It's not like I died or anything." Caroline opened the door for Jess and they were about to walk out when Liz spoke from her cot.

"Are you… Are you really dead?"

"Yes and no."

"How is it possible?" Caroline shut the door and turned back towards Liz.

"There's a lot you should know about me… _us_." Caroline corrected herself, looking over at Jess. Jess squeezed her eyes shut, as if trying to block out everything that was happening, then opened them and nodded. Caroline nodded in echo to hers and started again.

"There's a lot you should know about the two of us…."

* * *

Ava let Alaric into the Boarding House, holding the door open so that he could come in with the box of Isobel's research. They hurried into the living room.

"Ric!" Damon greeted him. Alaric spotted Jeremy.

"What are you doing here?"

"Helping Damon. I'm the one who found out about the moonstone."

"Does Elena know you're here?"

"Not exactly." He admitted.

"What did you bring?" Ava asked, changing the subject. Damon started to dig through the box and picked up a book.

"This is Isobel research's from Duke. Her assistant sent it to me."

"Hmmm, Vanessa. The hottie." Damon mused. Alaric snatched the book out of Damon's hands.

"Vanessa, yes. Now, do you remember the old Aztec curse she told us about?"

"Sun and the moon, blah blah blah."

"An Aztec curse? Cool." Jeremy said.

"Except for the 'curse' part, which means some witch did something dastardly. Right?" Ava asked.

"Yeah, supposedly vampires and werewolves used to roam freely until a shaman put a curse on them to limit their power. Since then, werewolves can only turn on a full moon and vampires are weakened by the sun." Damon wriggled his fingers, showing off his daylight ring.

"Most of them, anyway."

"According to the legend, the werewolf part of the curse is sealed with the moonstone." Alaric continued.

"What do you mean sealed?"

"It's a witch thing. Whatever seals the curse is usually the key to unsealing the curse. If someone cursed someone or something else with this-." Ava held up her Vervain necklace as an example. "-you would have to have this to undo the curse."

"Look at you, getting all supernaturally smart." Damon teased. She let her necklace drop against her collarbone again, falling silent at his tease.

"Maybe Mason Lockwood believes he can use the moonstone to break the curse." Alaric mused.

"If we start believing in some supernatural witchy-woo legend from a picture book, we're idiots. Who has the stone now?" Damon asked, turning to Jeremy.

"Tyler."

"Can you get it?"

"Yeah."

"See, now your life has purpose."

"So, you do believe it?"

"It's the same book that says a werewolf bite kills a vampire. Ignoring it would make me an even bigger idiot. Let's go."

* * *

"Why am I always babysitting?" Malia questioned, hurrying along behind Damon and Stefan as Damon hauled Bonnie by the arm away from the Lockwood Mansion.

"Because you're annoying and insistent?" Damon suggested.

"Go stake yourself."

"Okay. This is as far as I go." Bonnie put in, yanking her arm out of Damon's grip. Damon let it happen, turning to look at her.

"Okay." He agreed.

"What do you want?"

"A favor."

"Like that's gonna happen." Bonnie scoffed.

"So predictable." He motioned to Stefan.

"That's why I brought him."

"I know how you feel about helping us out, but since you're the one that linked Mason with Katherine, we finally have an opportunity to get an upper hand on both of them so, just hear us out." Stefan pleaded.

"Pretty please." Damon added. Bonnie glanced at Malia.

"Don't look at me. I'm just here to supervise." She explained. Bonnie heaved as sigh and looked back at the Salvatore brothers.

"I'm listening." Stefan's phone rang.

"I have to fill Elena in on what's going on. Can you play nice, please?" He asked Damon.

"I guess." Damon mumbled at the same time Malia said 'I'll make him'. Stefan nodded and walked away, talking into his phone.

"Okay, what's going on?" Malia questioned.

"Short version: there's a moonstone that could break the curse that keeps werewolves from turning except for on full moons. Katherine wants it. The Lockwood's have it. And all Bon-Bon has to do is touch Mason Lockwood again to see if he gave Katherine the moonstone."

"My visions don't work like that. I don't get to ask questions." Bonnie protested.

"How inconvenient. Although, let's talk about that little witchy juju thing you do with me. You know, the fun one where my brain burst into flames? What is that?"

"That's me giving you an aneurysm. Your blood vessels go pop, but you heal quickly; so, I do it over and over again." Bonnie sounded oddly smug about the whole thing.

"Is it vampire specific?"

"It'd work on anyone with a supernatural healing ability."

"Good. Good, good…" Damon murmured.

"Damon, I'm not gonna help you hurt him."

"Mason Lockwood's a werewolf, Katherine's evil. They're the bad guys. Really? You're gonna play morality police with me right now? Let me put it to you another way: they're a threat to Elena. So you, witch, are gonna get over yourself and help us." Damon slowly got closer to Bonnie until Malia smacked him, open-palmed in the chest, and made him step back.

"I think you meant that as a question with a "please" on the end, didn't you, Damon?" Damon growled at her, sounding feral. Malia growled right back and Bonnie watched them carefully, wondering if they were going to physically fight. Then Damon forced a smile onto his face.

"Absolutely."

* * *

Malia and Damon stood out of sight in the tree-line waiting for the plan to start. After a moment, Damon looked over at her and finally spoke.

"You know, you're very annoying."

"You know, you're a pain in the backside."

"Oh come on, even Elena's learned to forgive me of my crimes. What's taking you so long?" Damon smirked at her. Some part of Malia realized that Damon liked arguing with her and, whether he'd admit it or not, he liked being hated. She was more than happy to continuing hating him.

"You killed me and then told me I was turning into a vampire, handed me some sunglasses and let me run out of the house."

"Was I supposed to keep you in the cellar?" Damon asked.

"You were supposed to stay out of Mystic Falls and away from me and my family!" Malia growled. Damon was silent for another minute.

"You know what? I kind of admire something about you."

"Do I want to know?"

"You're willing to do anything as long as you're convinced it's for a productive reason. You don't have boundaries and you're willing to kill. In a few decades, when everyone you love is dead, you're going to be one heck of a vampire…" She stared at him, her hands balling up into fists. Before she could do anything, a scream pierced the air and they both turned around. Mason was on his knees in front of Bonnie, holding his head. Malia and Damon hurried over to him.

"I'm sorry." Bonnie told him, even as he was still screaming. Malia kneed Mason in the face and he fell over, unconscious. Damon yanked open the passenger side door of Mason's jeep and motioned for Bonnie to get in as Malia grabbed the keys from Mason's pocket. She threw the keys at Damon's face and he caught them a second before they would've hit him. He helped her shove Mason into the trunk and then the trio got in with Damon driving.

* * *

Jess and Caroline had made themselves comfortable on the opposite side of bed from Liz. Caroline had all but insisted that Jess go first; Liz had been more than a little shocked at her announcement that she was a witch, but she seemed to be taking it all in better than the girls had expected. Caroline's story was harder for Liz to accept, however.

"So, I mainly drink from blood bags. It's not as good as the fresh stuff but it beats the animal blood that Stefan's been trying to get me to drink."

"So, you steal the blood from the hospital?"

"Damon does. I've been pilfering his supply, so…"

"And as long as you have blood, you don't need to kill?"

"I want to. It's my basic nature now. But, on a healthy diet, I can control it. I'm getting better at it. I'm better than Stefan. He's a bit of a problem drinker. A blood-aholic."

"I don't want this for you." Liz muttered.

"I know. But when life gives you lemons…" Caroline let out a forced laugh but stopped when she realized no one else was laughing. Then her head snapped up.

"Damon's home."

"You could hear that?"

* * *

Damon carried Mason over his shoulders into the Salvatore boarding house and unceremoniously dumped him into a nearby chair. Bonnie watched from a distance, hesitating in the doorway. Malia brushed past her, carrying the duffel bag from Mason's trunk.

"Okay, grab that corner." Damon ordered, holding up a blanket. Malia helped him position it over the carpet.

"What are you doing?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't want to stain the carpet." Damon said in a tone that suggested Bonnie should have known that.

"I knew you were gonna say something like that."

"Judging again."

"He's not gonna be out much longer." Bonnie reminded him, motioning towards Mason. Damon unzipped the duffel bag and examined the chains inside.

"Whoa. Looks like this guy's used to being tied up." He tossed some chains to Malia as he dug the rest out of the bag. Bonnie walked over and put her hands on either side of Mason's head.

"What are you doing?" Damon demanded.

"You're looking for a moonstone. I'm trying to help you find it."

"Oh, good, yeah. Find out if he gave it to Katherine, and find out where she is. And find out what they're gonna do with it once they get it." Damon got to work tying Mason down on the chair with the chains while Bonnie concentrated.

"Somewhere small. Dark. There's water."

"Like a sewer?" Malia asked, scrunching up her nose.

"No. Like a well? That can't be right. Yeah. It's a well."

"Why would it be in a well?" Bonnie lowered her hands and opened her eyes.

"I told you, I only get what I get." Mason grunted and grabbed Bonnie's wrist. She let out a gasp. Malia pulled her from his grasp. She backed away quickly.

"That's it. That's all I got."

"Hey, judgy!" Damon called as she started to walk out of the room. She turned to look at him.

"Thank you." She hurried out of the room. Malia and Damon looked at each other.

"You know that he's not going to shake our hands and forgive us for this." Malia reminded him.

"I wasn't counting on it." He drew back his arm and punched Mason in the face.

"Come on. Wake up, wolf boy."

* * *

Bonnie hurried towards the front door. Jess and Caroline hurried up from the cellar.

"Hey!" Caroline called out. Bonnie stopped and turned.

"Hi. How's your mom? Elena filled me in on everything."

"I'm gonna take her home tonight."

"Caroline… Uh... Never mind, I've got to go." Bonnie started to leave again.

"Did you find the moonstone thing?" Jess asked.

"Not yet." She paused, thinking.

"Caroline, do you remember that old well where we used to play when we were kids?"

"Yeah."

"It's in the woods. Do you remember where?"

"On the edge of the old Lockwood property. Why?" Bonnie pulled out her phone and texted Stefan.

"I think that's where Mason is keeping the moonstone. I got to go."

"Well, we can come with you."

"No, it's okay." Bonnie said quickly. Caroline stepped back, hurt and disappointed. Bonnie bit her lip.

"Sure." She amended.

"Okay." Caroline smiled and the three girls hurried out of the boarding house together.


	38. The Well

**A/N This is the final part of 'Plan B'. Please read and review!**

* * *

Mason was chained down to the chair. Damon was squatting down by the fireplace, heating up an iron poker in the flames. Malia paced in front of Mason as he struggled to get free.

"Are you really going to waste your energy?" Malia questioned. He snarled at her. Her arm was a blur of speed as she reached out and shoved his chair over so he was on his back.

"Someone's feisty." Damon said in approval. He walked over to Mason and put the iron poker to Mason's chest. Mason screamed.

"You can hurt… good to know. I was afraid you were gonna be some beast mass with no affinity for pain." Malia stooped down and pulled Mason's shirt aside to examine the wound. It was already healing.

"Oh, but you heal quickly. Not good. Guess I'll just have to keep applying pain." Damon walked back over to the fireplace to reheat the poker. Malia pulled Mason upright again.

"So… Katherine. How do you know her? What is she up to?" She asked. He spit on the floor but said nothing.

"I have all day." Damon warned, coming back over with the poker.

* * *

Caroline rushed over to Elena, blurring with speed. Elena was by the side of the well, trying to pulling the heavy chain over to drop down, but she wasn't strong enough.

"Elena!"

"Caroline, Stefan's down there and the chain is rusted." Elena gushed. Caroline started to climb into the well, Elena grabbed her arm.

"No, no! You can't, it's filled with Vervain. Caroline, we've got to get him out. Now!" Caroline hesitated for a split second and then grabbed the chain from the ground while Elena climbed onto the edge of the well. Caroline helped her wrap the chain around her waist and she hooked it against one of the links. Elena looked at the blonde vampire.

"I got you, okay?" Reassured, Elena nodded.

"Yeah." Bonnie and Jess came out from the tree-tree line, batting away low hanging branches.

"What's going on? You just took off in a blur." Bonnie protested.

"I heard Elena screaming. Help her, now!" Caroline was all business. Bonnie grabbed Elena's hands and helped lower her into the well as Jess took her place behind Caroline, grabbing the chain.

"Are you ready?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah." Jess and Caroline slowly reeled her down into the well. Caroline lost her grip on the chain and it started to slip down. Jess tightened her hold and found herself slammed against the side of the well before Caroline grabbed the chain again.

"Sorry!" Caroline called.

"It's okay, keep going. Come on!" Elena called up breathlessly. Caroline glanced at Jess, who was doubled over holding her ribs.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm okay."

"You don't look okay."

"I'm fine." Jess said firmly. Caroline nodded, tightening her grip on the chain as they waited. Bonnie peered down into the well, but shook her head; she couldn't see anything.

"Elena, what's going on down there?" Caroline yelled.

"Pull him up!" Elena yelled back. Caroline and Jess pulled the chain up and Stefan appeared, unconscious. Bonnie and Jess ran over to untie him and set him gently on the ground. Jess wiped her wet hands on her jeans and ran back to the well.

"Elena? I'm sending the chain back down." Jess pushed the chain back into the well, hoping it didn't hit Elena.

"Hold on! I need to find the stone!"

"Hurry!" Caroline commanded. There was a pause.

"Hold on! I think I found it!" Then Elena screamed and tugged on the chain.

"Elena! What's going on?!"

"I got it. Come on! Bring me up!" Caroline pulled Elena up, slowly but surely. Jess pulled Elena over the edge of the well and helped her untie herself. Elena ran over to Stefan.

"Oh, god! Stefan!" She cradled her head in her arms, shaking him gently.

"Stefan, Stefan!" Elena grabbed a nearby rock and cut into her wrist. Caroline looked away. Elena pressed her wrist to Stefan's mouth.

"I've got the stone, Stefan. Stefan, it's gonna be okay, everything's gonna be okay."

* * *

Damon twirled the poker around in the fire, waiting for it to get white-hot again. Malia nudged Mason's ankle with her foot and, when he didn't look at her, kicked him harder. He looked up and glared at her.

"For the record, I am sorry that this has to happen."

"Screw you."

"Play nice, I may be the one who keeps you alive. _Maybe_." She snarled. Damon looked between the two of them, before standing up and focusing on Mason.

"When did you two meet? Did she seduce you, tell you she loved you? You're supernatural so she can't compel you. I'm sure she used her other charms. Katherine's good that way." The front door banged open and Malia and Damon turned to see who had come in. Jeremy and Ava came into the room. Ava's eyes widened at the sight and immediately started to run forward towards Mason but Damon shook his head at her. She backed up, bumping into Jeremy's chest.

"I thought I told you to leave." Damon protested.

"I found something in Ric's box of stuff." Jeremy explained.

"Ooh. What is it?" Damon asked, immediately interested. Jeremy held up the box he was holding and took out the stalk of a plant.

"I did a search on my phone. It's a plant. Aconitum Vulparia. It grows in the mountainous areas of the northern hemisphere. Commonly known as aconite, blue rocket, and Wolfsbane."

"What else did you read?"

"Well, every source says something different. One myth says it causes lycanthropy, which sounds bogus. Another one says that it protects people and another one says, well, it's toxic." Mason groaned. Malia looked over her shoulder at him.

"I'm guessing toxic." She mused. Damon took the plant from Jeremy and went over to Mason.

"What's Katherine doing in Mystic Falls?" Mason didn't answer. Damon brushed the end of the Wolfsbane stalk across Mason's cheek. It burned and Mason screamed. Jeremy looked away and Ava turned her back completely, paling just at the sound of the screaming. Damon pulled the Wolfsbane away.

"Why is she here?"

"She's here with me. Why do you ask, you jealous?"

"How rude of me. You know, I just realized, I didn't offer you anything to eat." Damon shoved the Wolfsbane into Mason's mouth, holding his jaw shut. Mason grunted and groaned in pain.

"Yummy!" Damon said sarcastically. He released him and Mason spit up the Wolfsbane, coughing up blood. Malia walked over to him, pushing Damon aside.

"Why do you want the moonstone?"

"Screw you!"

"Wrong answer!" She smacked his cheek, hard, and it left a red mark instantly, but faded just as quickly.

"If he was gonna say anything, he would have already!" Jeremy protested. Malia turned, looking at her brother.

"He just needs more incentive." She explained.

"I'm taking your eyes now." Damon put in, holding up the Wolfsbane.

"The well! You can find it there." Damon threateningly held up the Wolfsbane.

"I know where it is. I want to know what it does and why you want it."

"I'm getting it for Katherine."

"Why?"

"She's gonna use it to lift the curse."

"Of the moon? Now, why would a vampire help a werewolf break a curse that keeps them from turning whenever they want?"

"So I wouldn't have to turn anymore."

"Why?"

"Because she loves me." Damon and Malia burst out laughing. Malia smacked him upside the head.

"So that's it! You're just stupid."

"Katherine doesn't love you. She's using you, you moron." Damon added.

"I'm done talking."

"Yes, you are." Damon agreed. He handed Jeremy the Wolfsbane, who hastily grabbed it, eager to keep it out of Damon's hands.

"It's time to take a walk, Jeremy, Ava."

"I'm staying." Jeremy insisted.

"No, you should go."

"I'm staying, Damon. He's had enough."

"Just help Tyler. Don't let this happen to him." Mason pleaded.

"Damon, Malia-." Jeremy started. Malia darted over to him, grabbed him by the arm and hauled him out of the house. Surprised and scared, Ava hurried to follow them onto the front porch.

"You wanted to be a part of this? Well, here it is, Jeremy! It's kill or be killed. That guy is a werewolf and he would kill everyone single one of us the first chance he got. You still have some humanity, that's great, but it's going to get destroyed if you stay here. Go home."

"And what about you? You're fine with this?" Jeremy demanded.

"It's necessary."

"That's not what I asked."

"You want the truth?" Malia growled. Jeremy stood his ground so she continued:

"I want this. I want every threat eliminated and to eliminate a threat, you have to eliminate a person. So yeah. I'm good with this." Her voice was low, threatening and absolutely terrifying.

"Go home." Malia glanced around and spotted Ava.

"You should go with him." Ava nodded quickly. Malia hurried back into the boarding house, shutting the door behind her. Ava looked over at Jeremy and then they hurried off the steps towards Ava's car.

"She wasn't like this before." Jeremy complained.

"I'm her best friend, I know. It's the whole vampire thing. Everything about a person is enhanced, even the bad." Ava explained. They reached her car and fell silent just long enough to get into their seats and shut the doors. Ava leaned over her steering wheel, resting her forehead against it. Jeremy reached over for her hand.

"You okay?"

"I hate this… This wasn't supposed to happen…" She sobbed. Jeremy turned in his seat to look at her. She straightened up, wiping at her eyes.

"Damon wasn't even supposed to come here! He tormented me for so long and then I risked my life trying to save him during the Founder's Day party and it was stupid. He killed Zach! He turned Malia and Vicki! I hate him!" She cried.

"I know." Jeremy said quietly, not sure what else to do. Slowly, Ava collected herself and her sobbing stopped.

"I just miss Zach. He raised me and everyone forgot about him so easily…" She trailed off, jamming her keys into the ignition with a slightly shaking hand. Jeremy rubbed her shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I'm being dramatic, like always." She tried to brush it off, embarrassed, and turned her head to grab her seatbelt. Jeremy buckled in his own seatbelt and, without another word, she drove away from the Boarding House.

* * *

Malia strode back into the living room and stood in the doorway to watch Damon and Mason.

"You know, I look at you I see myself. A less dashing, less intelligent version." Damon was saying.

"I love her."

"Oh, I know! I've been where you are. But Katherine will only rip your heart out. Let me do it for her." Damon thrust his hand into Mason's chest and ripped out his heart. Mason's head dropped to his chest and Damon dropped the heart onto Mason's lap. Malia walked over.

"So what do we do know?"

"Oh you know, the usual, dump the body, tell no one unless we feel the intense need to remind everyone else how we always solve the problems." He said with a shrug. Malia nodded in agreement.

"What? Having second thoughts about being awesome?" He asked her.

"I was awesome long before being a vampire. I'm just not sure 'awesome' is how I'd describe myself now."

"Oh don't let your baby brother get you down. They brood, it's their thing. Don't fall to their level. Help me with this, would you?"

* * *

Caroline, Jess and Liz were gathered on Liz's cot together.

"So I pulled Stefan out of this well and he's all Vervained and just rotted, but Bonnie wasn't mean to me once and I just … I really think its progress, you know? I just… what? I'm freaking you out."

"It's just that you've become this person-."

"Don't. Don't. We...We're just starting to get along..." Caroline complained.

"This strong, this confident person." Liz finished.

"Oh. Thank you."

"You don't have to take my memories away. I'll keep your secret. Look, if you're worried about them, just say you compelled me. I won't tell. I'll never do anything to hurt you, either of you." Liz looked between her two daughters, smiling slightly.

"We never talk like this. Ever." Jess said with a small laugh.

"It meant a lot to me." Caroline agreed.

"Me too."

"I know." Caroline grabbed Liz's hands in her own and locked eyes with her.

"I know I can trust you, but you're never going to trust them." Caroline started to compel her.

"I'm going to take you home. You're going to forget that I'm a vampire."

"I'm going to forget that you're a vampire."

"You'll remember you got sick with the flu. You had a fever, chills and ickiness, but I made you soup and it was really salty. We bickered. You got better and then your selfish little daughter, who loves you no matter what, went right back to ignoring you and all is right in the world."

* * *

Malia and Elena set out plates on the kitchen table that night for dinner.

"Where's Jeremy?"

"He went up to his room, said he wasn't hungry. He's mad at me." Malia confessed.

"Why?" Malia cast a glance at Jenna, who seemed engrossed in her conversation on the phone, but she just shook her head anyway. Elena sighed.

"We never hang out anymore."

"That's your and Jeremy's problem."

"No, not me and Jeremy, you and me."

"Oh." Was all Malia said in response.

"Come here." Elena held out her arms.

"No, I don't do hugs, you know that." Malia said with a laugh.

"No, hugs mend relationships." Elena insisted, laughing herself. Malia turned and ran into the living room with Elena chasing her. They both collapsed on the couch in a tangle of arms and legs. Alaric laughed at them from the love seat. Eventually, Malia pushed Elena back, rolling off the couch to avoid her. Elena caught her breath and looked between Jenna and Alaric.

"Who is she talking to?"

"I don't know. Everything go okay today?"

"There were a few hiccups, but yeah." Elena admitted.

"Elena, it's for you." Jenna came over and handed her the phone.

"Who is it?" Jenna shrugged but didn't answer. Elena took the phone and placed it to her ear.

"Hello?" Elena's eyes widened at the response and she motioned at Malia, tapping her ear. Malia understood and listened in.

"Katherine." Elena said into the phone.

" _Did you enjoy your little rendezvous with Stefan this morning? I will always know, Elena. I will always be one step ahead of you. When are you gonna figure that out? Do you know how easy it was to get inside of your house? To replace Aunt Jenna's Vervain perfume, to convince her to stop drinking her special tea?_ " Malia stood up, looking over at Jenna.

"No." Elena hissed into the phone.

" _Jenna's been my little spy for days now. But unlike you, Jenna actually listens to me. So when I suggested that the world would be a much better place if she were to just-._ " Jenna got a knife and pointed it at her stomach.

"Jenna, no!" Malia darted over, but the knife was already in Jenna's stomach by the time that she reached her. Elena dropped the phone as she and Alaric rushed over to help. Malia backed away from the blood.

"Jeremy!" She screamed. Jeremy came rushing downstairs.

"What's going-." He saw Jenna and trailed off.

"Call 911." She ordered, backing herself against the wall. Jeremy obeyed as she collapsed onto the floor. _Katherine,_ she thought bitterly. She didn't care how or when, but she knew she was going to kill Katherine.

* * *

Malia and Jeremy waited in the waiting room of the hospital until, finally, Elena walked over to them. They stopped pacing and turned to look at her.

"Is she okay?" Jeremy demanded.

"The doctors told Alaric that she got lucky. She's gonna make it. She's gonna be okay."

"Does she remember what happened?" Malia asked.

"No, nothing. It's all a part of Katherine's mind compulsion."

"Why would Katherine hurt Jenna?" Jeremy demanded.

"Because she's trying to send a message. That she could get to anybody." Elena started to cry. Malia pulled her into a hug and Jeremy wrapped his arms around both of them.

"It's gonna be okay." Jeremy tried to reassure them.

"No, it's not." Elena sobbed.

"She's gonna pay, Elena. I don't know how but she's gonna pay."


End file.
